Buried remains postmortem interval

Potential Determinants of Postmortem and Postburial Interval of Buried Remains... 

Additional studies involving pig carcasses has since confirmed that buried carrion demonstrate a distinct difference in the pattern of insect succession compared with what occurs on surface carrion (Turner and Wiltshire 1999). One such study established a database of insect succession and demonstrated the potential of certain species to act as determinants of postmortem interval for buried carcasses (VanLaerhoven and Anderson 1999). Dipteran species, with the exception of the family Calliphoridae, were identified as the most useful indicator species allowing for an estimation of the minimum PMI in a shallow burial environment. This assumption is based on the hypotheses that once insects are able to locate buried remains, they will colonize, feed, and develop in a normal, predictable sequence. 

The aim of this chapter was to review the techniques and methods currently available to forensic investigators that can potentially estimate postmortem interval or postburial interval. The estimation of time of death or deposition is one of the most important factors that forensic experts are regularly asked to determine. Although numerous methods are available in the early postmortem period (i.e., forensic pathology), once the remains become decomposed the determination of PMI becomes much more difficult to estimate. Furthermore, the methods used to estimate the PMI of exposed remains cannot always be applied to buried remains. As a result, substantial research has been conducted in recent years in an attempt to identify an accurate method for estimating PMI or PBI of remains discovered in burial environments. 

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