Preservation Methods and the Degradation of Dust Print Lifts
Marcy Hendricks
Abstract: In this study, the author examined the different types of physical preservation methods for dust print lifts. Dust impressions were collected with Kinderprint’s electrostatic dust print lifter and documented at one week intervals with examination quality photography. Results indicated that storing dust print lifts taped to the top of cardboard mailing boxes produced the least amount of degradation to the print. Further, examination quality photography is widely heralded as the only sure method to maintain the detail of a freshly lifted dust impression. Therefore, the results of this study also illustrated the damaging effects of short term storage on dust print lifts and therefore highlighted the importance of immediate photography upon collection of dust impressions.
PDF: Preservation Methods and the Degradation of Dust Print Lifts
Using Luminol to Detect Blood in Soil Eight Years after Deposition
Ivanie Stene, Sheri Shimamoto, Ron Gabel, Rich Tewes, Tom Adair – Westminster Police Department, Colorado , USA; Lakewood Police Department, Colorado, USA; Denver Police Department, Colorado, USA; Pioneer Forensics, LLC
Abstract: In October of 2004 six testing grids were created on a hilltop at the Highlands Ranch Law Enforcement Training Facility located in Douglas County approximately eleven miles south of Denver, Colorado (USA). Each grid unit measured 24″x24″ in (61 x 61cm). The authors poured 500 ml of neat horse blood into each grid unit at the commencement of the study to test the effectiveness of using the blood reagent luminol to detect the blood pattern and presence over prolonged exposure. The testing was originally expected to last no more than 24 months. This study marks the eighth year of successful blood detection at this site using luminol.
PDF: Using Luminol to Detect Blood in Soil Eight Years after Deposition
Visual Appearance and Chemical Detection of Bloodstains on Concrete After Exposure to the Elements
Sheri Shimamoto, Charles S. DeFrance, & Thomas W. Adair
Abstract: We report on the experimental detection of blood on exposed concrete over a period of 428 days in the city of Aurora, Colorado. Neat (undiluted) blood was poured in an x- shaped pattern in each grid unit. The x-shaped pattern was chosen as a means of validating any reaction with possible false-positive properties of the substrate as well as to gauge how much deterioration of the pattern may occur over time, if any. Visible luminol reactions of the x-shaped pattern were detected from 14 to 156 days of exposure to the elements. A novel technique for extending this time frame using image enhancement is also discussed which extended the detectable reaction to 295 days.
PDF: Visual Appearance and Chemical Detection of Bloodstains on Concrete After Exposure to the Elements
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