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Join us for episode 101 of Forensics Talks on May 30, 2024, at 2 PM Eastern, where we'll dive into the fascinating world of forensic geophysics and NecroSearch with Clark Davenport. With a distinguished career spanning over 55 years, Clark has conducted remote-sensing surveys across six continents for criminal, environmental, and archaeological investigations. As a co-founder and active member of NecroSearch International, Clark has revolutionized the field by assisting law enforcement in locating clandestine graves and hidden evidence. Since 1987, his pioneering work in remote sensing has contributed to more than 100 criminal investigations in 32 states and 7 countries, offering invaluable support to agencies including the FBI, US Secret Service, and international law enforcement bodies. In this episode Clark will share insights from his extensive experience using remote sensing and geophysical techniques to uncover what lies hidden beneath the surface. His expertise not only helps solve crimes but also brings closure to families affected by unresolved cases. Tune in and contribute to the discussion as we explore the science behind finding clandestine graves and the profound impact of NecroSearch on forensic investigations. Originally aired on: May 30, 2024
Today my guest is Forensic Geophysicist Clark Davenport What we discuss with Clark: Geophysics and how he discovered this field Remote sensing technologies and how they are used in forensic geophysics Clark's 2017 book Remote Sensing Technology in Forensic Investigations His role as a founding member of NecroSearch International How NecroSearch International assists law enforcement The story behind Clark's trips to Russia Links for this episode: Health Podcast Network LabVine Learning Dress A Med scrubs NecroSearch International Remote Sensing Technology in Forensic Investigations from Amazon Colorado Volunteer Scientists Play Crucial Role in Unearthing Human Remains People of Pathology Podcast: Website Twitter
Coroner Talk™ | Death Investigation Training | Police and Law Enforcement
We have all heard about the science of Botany, but have you ever considered just how important it can be in solving your case? For instance; how plant cells from stomach contents can discredit an alibi, or how one seed in the shoelace of a suspect can bring an unknown serial murderer to justice, or just exactly what plant DNA can tell us about our victims last location. Using plants in criminal investigations is an underused forensic science , this may be that there are few forensic botanist in the United States, but it is certainly a science we all need to be reintroduced to. Forensic Botany Forensic botany applies the knowledge and techniques of plant science to legal matters. Here, the term macroscopic plant remains is given to those plant materials not included within forensic palynology or microbiology. Research centered on spores, pollen, and certain microorganisms is well developed and will not be discussed here. For decades, these materials have been used successfully by archaeologists, geologists, anthropologists, and botanists to determine the cause of death for prehistoric or modern humans. One of the early documented cases of forensic botany connected with macroscopic plant materials was the suicide death of Socrates. Plato described the death of his mentor as he attended the legally imposed suicide of Socrates. He was convicted of corrupting youth and disrespecting the state religion. Because Socrates was of high social standing, he was allowed to choose his own manner of death. He selected a deadly tea made from poison hemlock (Conium maculatum L.: Apiaceae). In Plato’s Phaedo (Plato and Gallop, 2009), we read of Socrates’ symptoms after he drank the fatal brew. This narration agrees with contemporary descriptions of poison hemlock’s effect on humans (Lewis and Elvin-Lewis, 1977). From that time to this, in most of the world’s societies the knowledge of plants’ effects on humans has appeared in courts (Simoons, 1998). Forensic botany became accredited in the courts of the United States in the trial of Bruno Hauptman who was accused of kidnapping and killing Charles and Anne M. Lindbergh’s baby son in 1932 (Graham, 1997, 2006). Arthur Koehler, a wood anatomist with the US Forest Service, matched the wood from the ladder used to get into the second floor Lindbergh nursery with wood from Hauptman’s attic. Hauptman was convicted of the crime and executed. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation called Koehler’s evidence ‘critical.’ This crime also resulted in kidnapping becoming a federal offense. Collection of Evidence The collection of plant material for use in criminal investigations differs from techniques taught in plant systematic courses. Forensic collections are assumed to be legal evidence. Such materials need to be collected, if possible, either by officers of law enforcement organizations or by a botanist in the presence of officers. Rules surrounding evidence are strict. When significant vegetation is collected, a chain of evidence must be established at once. Notebook records of time and place and case numbers are required. It is wise, but not required, to assign your personal case number that will be linked to the number that will be used in court. This information must always remain attached to the evidence. Each person in possession of evidence must be clearly documented as the evidence passes among those involved in a case. Plant collections should be placed either in paper or cloth bags unless pollen analysis also is to be undertaken. Bags need to be the smallest size to accommodate the material. Evidence can be stored in laboratories or evidence lockers for long periods of time, even years. Evidence rooms always are short of space, so economy of collection without minimizing the value of the specimens is essential. Plastic bags, glass jars, and tin cans are unacceptable for long-term storage because they encourage decay. Download Full Paper Here: The Use of Macroscopic Plant Remains In Forensic Science J H Bock, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA ã 2013 Elsevier B.V. Episode Guest Jane Bock, PhD University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Member of Botanical Society of America. Founding member of Necrosearch International. 80+ refereed publications, 3 books. Book in press, Forensic Plant Science - Academic Press. publication 2015 or 2016.
One morning in July 1974, Anita Andrews, the owner and bartender at Fagiani's Cocktail Lounge in Napa, California was found dead in her bar-raped, beaten, and stabbed to death in a bloody frenzy. She'd last been seen alive the night before talking to a drifter who sat at the end of the bar, playing cards and flirting with her. But the stranger, along with Anita's Cadillac, had disappeared. Unable to locate a suspect, police investigators sadly watched the case grow cold over the years. Meanwhile a month after Anita's murder, young Michele Wallace, was driving down a road in the mountains near Crested Butte, Colorado, when she gave two stranded motorists, Chuck Matthews and a man named Roy, a ride. Dropping Matthews off at a bar in Gunnison, she agreed to take "Roy" to his truck. She was never seen alive again, nor could a massive search of the mountains locate her remains. The trail leading to her killer also ran into deadends. Fourteen years later, Charlotte Sauerwin, engaged to be married, met a smooth-talking man at a Laundromat in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The next evening, her body was found in the woods; she'd been raped, tortured, and her throat slashed. The police suspected her fiance, Vince LeJeune, though he proclaimed his innocence to anyone who would listen. Meanwhile, the man from the Laundromat couldn't be located. The three murders would remain unsolved, eating at the hearts, minds and lives of the women's families, friends and communities. Then in the early 1990s, a rookie Gunnison County sheriff's investigator named Kathy Young began looking into the Wallace case and identified a suspect named Roy Melanson, a serial rapist from Texas. SMOOTH TALKER is the story of Melanson, his depredations, and the intrepid police work that went into bringing him to justice. I originally wrote about the Michele Wallace case in 2002 as part of my book NO STONE UNTURNED: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators. The book detailed the history and best cases of NecroSearch International, a renowned group of scientists and law enforcement investigators who pool their knowledge and experience to locate the clandestine graves and remains of murder victims. Their first real success was locating the remains of Michele Wallace in 1994. However, at the time the book came out, no one knew about the true extent of Roy Melanson's horrific rampage or the connection between the Wallace case and the murders of Andrews and Sauerwin. It's all pieced together in SMOOTH TALKER: Trail of Death, in which the readers get two fascinating cold case murder investigations in a story filled with brutality, grief, forensic science at its finest, and exemplary police work.
One morning in July 1974, Anita Andrews, the owner and bartender at Fagiani's Cocktail Lounge in Napa, California was found dead in her bar-raped, beaten, and stabbed to death in a bloody frenzy. She'd last been seen alive the night before talking to a drifter who sat at the end of the bar, playing cards and flirting with her. But the stranger, along with Anita's Cadillac, had disappeared. Unable to locate a suspect, police investigators sadly watched the case grow cold over the years. Meanwhile a month after Anita's murder, young Michele Wallace, was driving down a road in the mountains near Crested Butte, Colorado, when she gave two stranded motorists, Chuck Matthews and a man named Roy, a ride. Dropping Matthews off at a bar in Gunnison, she agreed to take "Roy" to his truck. She was never seen alive again, nor could a massive search of the mountains locate her remains. The trail leading to her killer also ran into deadends. Fourteen years later, Charlotte Sauerwin, engaged to be married, met a smooth-talking man at a Laundromat in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The next evening, her body was found in the woods; she'd been raped, tortured, and her throat slashed. The police suspected her fiance, Vince LeJeune, though he proclaimed his innocence to anyone who would listen. Meanwhile, the man from the Laundromat couldn't be located. The three murders would remain unsolved, eating at the hearts, minds and lives of the women's families, friends and communities. Then in the early 1990s, a rookie Gunnison County sheriff's investigator named Kathy Young began looking into the Wallace case and identified a suspect named Roy Melanson, a serial rapist from Texas. SMOOTH TALKER is the story of Melanson, his depredations, and the intrepid police work that went into bringing him to justice. I originally wrote about the Michele Wallace case in 2002 as part of my book NO STONE UNTURNED: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators. The book detailed the history and best cases of NecroSearch International, a renowned group of scientists and law enforcement investigators who pool their knowledge and experience to locate the clandestine graves and remains of murder victims. Their first real success was locating the remains of Michele Wallace in 1994. However, at the time the book came out, no one knew about the true extent of Roy Melanson's horrific rampage or the connection between the Wallace case and the murders of Andrews and Sauerwin. It's all pieced together in SMOOTH TALKER: Trail of Death, in which the readers get two fascinating cold case murder investigations in a story filled with brutality, grief, forensic science at its finest, and exemplary police work.
One morning in July 1974, Anita Andrews, the owner and bartender at Fagiani's Cocktail Lounge in Napa, California was found dead in her bar-raped, beaten, and stabbed to death in a bloody frenzy. She'd last been seen alive the night before talking to a drifter who sat at the end of the bar, playing cards and flirting with her. But the stranger, along with Anita's Cadillac, had disappeared. Unable to locate a suspect, police investigators sadly watched the case grow cold over the years. Meanwhile a month after Anita's murder, young Michele Wallace, was driving down a road in the mountains near Crested Butte, Colorado, when she gave two stranded motorists, Chuck Matthews and a man named Roy, a ride. Dropping Matthews off at a bar in Gunnison, she agreed to take "Roy" to his truck. She was never seen alive again, nor could a massive search of the mountains locate her remains. The trail leading to her killer also ran into deadends. Fourteen years later, Charlotte Sauerwin, engaged to be married, met a smooth-talking man at a Laundromat in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The next evening, her body was found in the woods; she'd been raped, tortured, and her throat slashed. The police suspected her fiance, Vince LeJeune, though he proclaimed his innocence to anyone who would listen. Meanwhile, the man from the Laundromat couldn't be located. The three murders would remain unsolved, eating at the hearts, minds and lives of the women's families, friends and communities. Then in the early 1990s, a rookie Gunnison County sheriff's investigator named Kathy Young began looking into the Wallace case and identified a suspect named Roy Melanson, a serial rapist from Texas. SMOOTH TALKER is the story of Melanson, his depredations, and the intrepid police work that went into bringing him to justice. I originally wrote about the Michele Wallace case in 2002 as part of my book NO STONE UNTURNED: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators. The book detailed the history and best cases of NecroSearch International, a renowned group of scientists and law enforcement investigators who pool their knowledge and experience to locate the clandestine graves and remains of murder victims. Their first real success was locating the remains of Michele Wallace in 1994. However, at the time the book came out, no one knew about the true extent of Roy Melanson's horrific rampage or the connection between the Wallace case and the murders of Andrews and Sauerwin. It's all pieced together in SMOOTH TALKER: Trail of Death, in which the readers get two fascinating cold case murder investigations in a story filled with brutality, grief, forensic science at its finest, and exemplary police work.
Topic: Applying Geological Exploration Methods to Assist Homicide Investigators in Locating Clandestine Graves In 1988, NecroSearch International, a non-profit organization, was founded to provide the international law enforcement community with scientific assistance in locating clandestine gravesites related to homicides. Thirty years later, NecroSearch has assisted police and district attorneys with more than 300 cases in 40 … Continue reading "#59 Jim Reed – RockWare Inc. Director of Research and Development"
Topic: Applying Geological Exploration Methods to Assist Homicide Investigators in Locating Clandestine Graves In 1988, NecroSearch International, a non-profit organization, was founded to provide the international law enforcement community with scientific assistance in locating clandestine gravesites related to homicides. Thirty years later, NecroSearch has assisted police and district attorneys with more than 300 cases in 40 … Continue reading "#59 Jim Reed – RockWare Inc. Director of Research and Development"
Steve Jackson : Smooth Talker / Kevin Sullivan : The Trail of Ted BundyOne morning in July 1974, Anita Andrews, the owner and bartender at Fagiani's Cocktail Lounge in Napa, California was found dead in her bar-raped, beaten, and stabbed to death in a bloody frenzy. She'd last been seen alive the night before talking to a drifter who sat at the end of the bar, playing cards and flirting with her. But the stranger, along with Anita's Cadillac, had disappeared. Unable to locate a suspect, police investigators sadly watched the case grow cold over the years.Meanwhile a month after Anita's murder, young Michele Wallace, was driving down a road in the mountains near Crested Butte, Colorado, when she gave two stranded motorists, Chuck Matthews and a man named Roy, a ride. Dropping Matthews off at a bar in Gunnison, she agreed to take "Roy" to his truck. She was never seen alive again, nor could a massive search of the mountains locate her remains. The trail leading to her killer also ran into deadends.Fourteen years later, Charlotte Sauerwin, engaged to be married, met a smooth-talking man at a Laundromat in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The next evening, her body was found in the woods; she'd been raped, tortured, and her throat slashed. The police suspected her fiance, Vince LeJeune, though he proclaimed his innocence to anyone who would listen. Meanwhile, the man from the Laundromat couldn't be located.The three murders would remain unsolved, eating at the hearts, minds and lives of the women's families, friends and communities. Then in the early 1990s, a rookie Gunnison County sheriff's investigator named Kathy Young began looking into the Wallace case and identified a suspect named Roy Melanson, a serial rapist from Texas. SMOOTH TALKER is the story of Melanson, his depredations, and the intrepid police work that went into bringing him to justice.I originally wrote about the Michele Wallace case in 2002 as part of my book NO STONE UNTURNED: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators. The book detailed the history and best cases of NecroSearch International, a renowned group of scientists and law enforcement investigators who pool their knowledge and experience to locate the clandestine graves and remains of murder victims. Their first real success was locating the remains of Michele Wallace in 1994. However, at the time the book came out, no one knew about the true extent of Roy Melanson's horrific rampage or the connection between the Wallace case and the murders of Andrews and Sauerwin. It's all pieced together in SMOOTH TALKER: Trail of Death, in which the readers get two fascinating cold case murder investigations in a story filled with brutality, grief, forensic science at its finest, and exemplary police work.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/1198501/advertisement
Join the show for an in depth discussion with New York Times best-selling author Steve Jackson and the updated release of his book, No Stone Unturned from WildBlue Press. "Jackson recreates the genesis of NecroSearch International as a small eclectic group of scientists and law enforcement who volunteered their services to help locate the clandestine graves of murder victims and recover the remains and evidence to assist with the apprehension and conviction of the killers. Known early on as “The Pig People” because of their experiments in locating graves using the carcasses of pigs (because of their similarities to human bodies), NecroSearch has evolved and expanded into one of the most respected forensic investigation teams in the world." First Time As Kindle eBook and Audio BookEditions! IMAGINEPUBLICITY.COM
The True Story of the World’s Premiere Forensic recreates the genesis of NecroSearch International as a small eclectic group of scientists and law enforcement who volunteered their services to help locate the clandestine graves of murder victims and recover the remains and evidence to assist with the apprehension and conviction of the killers. Known early on as “The Pig People” because of their experiments in locating graves using the carcasses of pigs (because of their similarities to human bodies), NecroSearch has evolved and expanded into one of the most respected forensic investigation teams in the world. New York Times bestselling author Steve Jackson, the author of BOGEYMAN and MONSTER, vividly tells the story of this incredible group and recounts some of their most memorable early cases that taken separately would make great true crime books. Following his participation in a NecroSearch expedition to Russia looking for the remains of a Russian noble in 2013, Jackson was made an honorary member of NecroSearch International in November 2014. NO STONE UNTURNED-Steve Jackson