One of the first questions forensic investigators are asked upon arrival at a crime scene is how much time has elapsed since death. This is a question that is difficult to answer and, in instances of advanced decomposition, unobtainable. Human decomposition is a complicated process largely dependent on chemical, biological, and environmental factors that influence the rate of decomposition. Temperature, moisture, oxygen, insect activity, burial depth, and types of bodily coverings are a few of the conditions that are known to alter decomposition rates (Burns,