Forensic Anthropology and Missing Persons Investigation
The investigation into missing persons using forensic anthropology techniques, focusing on the analysis of bones like the humerus for height approximation and identification. Families await closure as the FBI looks into washed ashore bones, potentially bringing answers and resolving insurance claims through scientific comparisons.
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First of the Day First of the Day RIDDLES
I push, I pull, I am a useful tool. But if you lose me, you'll be sorry - I never return, as you'll soon learn. I have a comic in me but I'm never that funny. The only way you'll remember me constantly, is the feeling you get when you lose me. What am I? An Arm. The humerus line is talking about your upper arm bone. The last line is about how you feel the arm even though it's gone, commonly known as a phantom arm.
MISSING PERSONS A Lab on Forensic Anthropology Height Approximation using the humerus
As you read on Friday, sex of an unknown individual can often be determined by viewing the cranium and pelvic bones. Deviations in a bone, such as a lipping at the end of the upper leg bone, indicate that the individual may have been an elderly person with arthritis (inflammation of the joints). Indentations in teeth often indicate the presence of a dental filling at one time. A comparison of the location and shape of these fillings may eventually be matched to the dental records of an individual.
Also recall from last weeks lessons that forensic scientists can approximate the height of an individual by using the length of the long bones such as the humerus, radius, ulna of the arm femur, tibia and fibula of the leg.
Last week 12 families received letters from the Federal Bureau of Investigation stating that a human humerus, the upper arm bone, had washed ashore on nearby Seagull Beach. The FBI letter said that it is likely that this upper arm bone belonged to one of 12 missing persons in the area who have never been discovered.
The life insurance policies that covered these 12 individuals have not yet paid the beneficiaries. These polices cannot be paid until proof of the missing person s death has been confirmed. Many of these families are in desperate need of this financial assistance. Most of the families believe their loved one was murdered. The length of the upper arm bone can be used to determine the actual height of its owner. For this reason, each of the 12 families has been asked to provide information about the height of their loved one. The members of the crime lab will compare the height of each missing person with the projected height of the individual to whom the humerous belonged. A crime lab report will be sent to the proper insurance company if a match is found for the humerus bone.
Procedure Exhibit A is a life-size sketch of the upper arm bone that washed up on Seagull Beach. You and your team of experts will determine the owner of the humerus Measure the length of the arm bone in centimeters. Record the length of the humerus on your Crime Report Sheet. The families of the 12 missing persons have provided information regarding the height of their missing family member to the FBI. Their information is provided on the Data Table. Convert their heights to centimeters. Remember that 2.54cm equals 1 inch. Use the following formulas to determine whether or not the humerus bone could have belonged to one of these missing persons. Record this information on the Data Table. The formula for males and females is different: Height of male in cm = (Length of humerus bone in cm) x (2.89) + 70.64 Height of female in cm = (Length of humerus bone in cm) x (2.79) + 71.48 On the Crime Report Sheet indicate the owner of Exhibit A . Answer the lab discussion questions including finding your own height from the length of your own humerus bone,
Missing person Height (feet and inches) Height (cm) Calculated length of humerus (cm) Bill Boston 5 11 Jane Caldwell 5 5 Ernest Bass 5 6 Jill James 4 10 Gary Burnes 6 10 Lily Walker 5 9 Mary Zimmerman 4 8 Billy Jenkins 6 2 Jessie Agan 6 0 Gladys Thomas 5 7 Don Harris 5 7 Lenny Aires 6 4
Humerus Conversions: Must first convert feet and inches to cm: 1 inch = 2.54 cm (1 foot = 12 inches) Bill Boston: Example:5 11 = (5 x 12) + 11 = 71 71 x 2.54cm = 180.34cm Female = Height (female) - 71.48 2.79 Male = Height (male) - 70.64 2.89 Bill = 180.34 70.64 =37.958 = 37.96 humerus length 2.89 So it can t be him!! ____________________________________________________________________ When finding your own height after measuring your humerus use: Female = (length of humerus bone in cm) x (2.79) + 71.48 Male = (length of humerus bone in cm) x (2.89) + 70.64
To think about in the end Did your lab groups reach the same conclusion who was it?? Was it possible to determine who the missing person might be with only a humerus as evidence? To students: Do you think you could prove to an insurance company that this formula works, by finding your own height by measuring your own Humerus?
