NCJ Number
58140
Journal
Identification News Volume: 29 Issue: 5 Dated: (MAY 1979) Pages: 3-7
Date Published
1979
Length
5 pages
Annotation
FORENSIC INVESTIGATION OF MICROORGANISMS ON DROWNED CORPSES IN JAPAN INDICATED THAT ALL CORPSES FOUND IN FRESH WATER HAD A MOSSY SUBSTANCE ATTACHED TO THE SKIN. THIS CAN HELP ESTABLISH POSTMORTEM LAPSED TIME.
Abstract
THIRTY-FIVE CASES FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF JAPAN DURING THE 6-YEAR PERIOD FROM 1972 TO 1978 WERE NOTED IN WHICH CORPSES FOUND IN FRESH WATER HAD A MOSSY SUBSTANCE ATTACHED TO THE SKIN. IN ALL CASES, ALGAE WERE FOUND IN THE EXPOSED AREA, ESPECIALLY THE FACE AND THE NECK. IN ONE CASE, ALGAE WERE ALSO FOUND IN THE THORACOABDOMINAL AREA UNDER THE CLOTHING. SOME ALGAE WERE LIKE MYCELIA GROWING ON THE SKIN AND SEEMED MOSSY DUE TO BEING WRAPPED IN GELATINOUS SUBSTANCES AND MUDDY SEDIMENTS. DESPITE A WIDE RANGE IN WATER TEMPERATURE, NO DIFFERENCE IN THE AMOUNT OF ATTACHED MATERIAL WAS OBSERVED. MOSSY DEPOSITS CONSISTED OF SEVERAL SPECIES OF SAPROLEGNIA, ALGAE, AND MUD. THE GROWTH RATE OF DEPOSITS WAS NEARLY LINEAR WITH POSTMORTEM LAPSED TIME. CASE ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTATION WERE CARRIED OUT IN VIEW OF THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE GENESIS AND NATURE OF MOSSY ORGANISMS MAY BE BENEFICIAL IN ESTIMATING THE POSTMORTEM LAPSED TIME OF CORPSES FOUND IN WATER AND THUS AID IN FORENSIC INVESTIGATION. THE RESULTS OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, WATER TANK, AND HISTOLOGICAL EXPERIMENTS CONFIRMED THAT SAPROLEGNIA GROWTH ON TEST SPECIMENS MATCHED SAPROLEGNIA GROWTH ON DROWNED HUMAN CORPSES. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THERE IS A DEFINITE CORRELATION BETWEEN SAPROLEGNIA GROWTH ON THE SKIN OF DROWNED CORPSES IN FRESH WATER AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS IN WHICH CORPSES ARE FOUND AND THAT DETAILED EXAMINATION WILL YIELD MATERIAL PARTICULARLY USEFUL IN FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS TO JUDGE THE POSTMORTEM LAPSED TIME OF DROWNED CORPSES. TABULAR DATA, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)