No abstract

A body with a gunshot wound to the head was discovered in a wooded area in mid September 1983 wrapped with about 20 consecutive layers of plastic garbage bags and rope. Examination of the body revealed a bullet hole in the occipital-parietal region and a peculiar decomposition of the body. Following a forensic reconstruction of our autopsy findings, microscopic studies and other ancillary factors, we concluded that the body had been frozen for about 2 and one-quarter years prior to its being dumped along a mountain road here in Rockland County. The means by which we concluded that the victim had been frozen for about 2 and one-quarter years and other important aspects of this case are fully discussed.

Proposed methods for softening mummified fingers have been either unsuccessful in adequately softening the fingers or have been highly destructive. A simple technique based on an entirely new concept utilizing disodium ethylenediamine tetracetic acid in a detergent solution adjusted to a pH of 7.5 has been successfully used to obtain satisfactory to good fingerprints over the past ten years in every case attempted.