Lets make this the first one for 2007

[Gary D.]

You get called to do the recovery of a badly decomposed body whose identity is unknown.

It’s deep, cold and the bottom is very fine volcanic ash that is easily disturbed at the slightest movement. The second you touch the bottom or remains the visibility goes to a silted out zero.

What three major parts are you going to try and retrieve to possibly identify the remains?

How would you go about recovering the rest of the remains?

Gary D. :11:

 

[Desert Pirate]

Im takin a stab in the dark.... but Im gonna guess you want the skull/jaw, Femur, and some soft tissue if possible.... to recover the rest I would give it a day, get GPS coords for the exact location, and come back with a litter box scoop....lol jsut my ideas... but what do I know
Clay

 

[WVDiver]

Definately need the skull and lower jaw to try to make an id by matching the teeth with dental records. With that should come the needed tissue samples. Not sure what the third might be but how about the wallet.

The remaining remains would depend on many variables around the site and the conditions.

 

[Yotsie]

We had a call exactly like that in a neighboring County. The guy went in approximately 3 years before in a boating accident. He was found with SS sonar, but was at 170 FFW. We dove it when dam repair dropped the water down to 98 FFW.
On the first dive, we discover conditions such as you described. The remains were not disturbed and we surfaced. After three hours, the silt was still bad, but workable. We got the skull/jaw and what I believe were arm bones. We tried a third dive, but the silt hung thick and didn't clear out. In retrieving the skull/jaw, the coroner was able to identify the victim with dental records. If I had to do it again, I would make sure the divers knew not to hit the bottom. I also wouldn't worry about a body bag and instead use a good sized goodie bad to collect as many of the remains as possible.:diver:

 

[Gary D.]

OK, now we are on the right track so let’s get some more players here. So far there is a good one not mentioned yet.

This isn't a test and there is no right or wrong answer so get in and play.

Gary D.

 

[TheTrickster]

What about the pelvis? So you can determine if its male or female?

 

[bridgediver]

Of course it depends on the amount of decomposition but to add to the other good ideas...

bag the hands and what may be in around them, Possibly the feet - foot wear on/off? and possible entanglements on the feet/legs.
Any clothing should be retreived as intact as possible with or without the 'goo' in it.

Reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me when they were recovering a pilot from a plane who was badly decomposing. He remained relatively intact until they got him near the surface and then 'parts' started coming off. A group of sealions were in the area and were gobbling up the bits in a frenzy to the point of stripping parts off the body itself. A support guy on the boat, later stated that he was worried there would be nothing left if he didn't act fast and so (positive ID would've been a problem) reached down and yanked the head off the the body and dropped it into a bag much to the shock of the others

 

[CheddarChick]

YIKES!!!!! Can you imagine seeing that on your boat?? Hardened cop not withstanding. It would give me nightmares forever. I thinks hands would be good to get, any identifying rings, or prints if possible...

 

[dandrian]

I would probably go for the skull and jaw bone, the pelvic bone, and the femur. You could potientially get dental records off the skull, but the pelvic bone and femur will give you sex, approx. height, and possibly approx. age based on joint wear. Also to consider is whether you feel the body you are recovering is a known person. Example: If you found a body in the approx. location of a previous missing person, I would look at that missing person medical records to see if they would have any identifying characteristics. ie if they had broken their right fore arm as a child then try to bring up the right forearm etc. Also consider replacment parts like hips and knees.......

 

[Boater Dan]

My vote goes with pelvis, head and jaw, and spine. I would throw in the wallet idea (assuming they were not in swim trunks).

Dan