A review of New York City dismemberment cases occurring between 1996 and 2017 was conducted, which resulted in a total of 55 dismembered decedents in a 22‐year period. Annual trends indicate an average of 2.5 dismembered decedents. Additional results show that 53% of cases involved transection only, 35% involved disarticulation only, and 13% involved a combination of both. When the entire body could be accounted for, the average number of body portions per case was 5.5. Frequent locations for dismemberment were the neck, shoulders, hips, and knees. Dismemberment locations showed a general trend of anatomical symmetry. Seventy‐eight percent of the dismemberments involve disposal of body parts in an outside location. Eighty‐four percent were concealed from view with some type of covering. The findings from New York City are compared with other studies.

While there is extensive research into wellness and mental health risks for police officers and other first responders, a smaller portion of research has considered how forensic practitioners are affected. This study surveyed 211 forensic practitioners from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences membership, the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner, and the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner to assess current wellness perceptions within forensics. The 22-question survey focused on (a) how the demands of daily casework affect self-perceived burnout levels, (b) whether mental health issues are adequately addressed during the education and training of the forensic workforce, and (c) whether forensic professionals are getting the wellness support that they themselves feel that they need. Basic descriptive statistics, chi-square (χ 2 ) cross tabulations, and correlation analyses were constructed to assess relevant relationships within survey responses. Results indicate that forensic professionals report a high level of burnout and a lack of sufficient wellness resources in their current professional climate. While professionals feel fulfilled from their work, the majority of respondents (73.9%) felt that common mental health issues that exist in their profession were not adequately addressed during their workplace training, academic schooling, or professional certification. Despite the uniformly weak correlations observed between variables, chi-square analyses reveal practically and statistically significant trends that warrant further investigation, particularly in the context of vicarious trauma. Overall, this study provides an important baseline for future wellness research to support the specialized needs of forensic scientists during their training and education.

Isotopic analyses of human remains augment the biological profile with geolocation and dietary information, furthering efforts to identify unknown individuals from a forensic context. Here we test the methodological resolution of geolocation (δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr) and dietary (δ13C, δ15N) isotopes of one identified individual who immigrated to New York City from St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Lesser Antilles. Isotope-based geolocation estimates did not identify the childhood residency on SVG, but did point to New York City as a possible residence during early adulthood. The individual’s C3-based diet did not significantly change from childhood to early adulthood, illustrating the maintenance of food traditions after the immigration event. This study illustrates that further development of tissue-specific isoscapes incorporating bioavailable foods, drinking water, and cultural traditions is warranted to refine methodological resolution of isotopic applications in forensic anthropology.