Multi‐isotope approaches for region‐of‐origin predictions of undocumented border crossers from the US–Mexico border

Bartelink, Eric J.; Chesson, Lesley A.; Tipple, Brett J.; Hall, Sarah R.; Kramer, Robyn T.

doi:10.1002/9781119482062.ch24

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Furthermore, law enforcement agencies could use the isoscape to predict the region of ‘growing areas’ or determine country of origin using bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr from confiscated illicit drugs, like marijuana or heroin [ 132 , 133 ]. Additionally, although Aotearoa does not encounter many unidentified human remains, if they were recovered and traditional identification methods failed to produce a positive identification, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values from the unidentified person’s teeth could help predict their region or country of origin [ 19 , 25 , 26 , 37 , 65 , 74 , 77 , 134 , 135 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A bioavailable strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape for Aotearoa New Zealand: Implications for food forensics and biosecurity

et al. 2022

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As people, animals and materials are transported across increasingly large distances in a globalized world, threats to our biosecurity and food security are rising. Aotearoa New Zealand is an island nation with many endemic species, a strong local agricultural industry, and a need to protect these from pest threats, as well as the economy from fraudulent commodities. Mitigation of such threats is much more effective if their origins and pathways for entry are understood. We propose that this may be addressed in Aotearoa using strontium isotope analysis of both pests and products. Bioavailable radiogenic isotopes of strontium are ubiquitous markers of provenance that are increasingly used to trace the origin of animals and plants as well as products, but currently a baseline map across Aotearoa is lacking, preventing use of this technique. Here, we have improved an existing methodology to develop a regional bioavailable strontium isoscape using the best available geospatial datasets for Aotearoa. The isoscape explains 53% of the variation (R2 = 0.53 and RMSE = 0.00098) across the region, for which the primary drivers are the underlying geology, soil pH, and aerosol deposition (dust and sea salt). We tested the potential of this model to determine the origin of cow milk produced across Aotearoa. Predictions for cow milk (n = 33) highlighted all potential origin locations that share similar 87Sr/86Sr values, with the closest predictions averaging 7.05 km away from their true place of origin. These results demonstrate that this bioavailable strontium isoscape is effective for tracing locally produced agricultural products in Aotearoa. Accordingly, it could be used to certify the origin of Aotearoa’s products, while also helping to determine if new pest detections were of locally breeding populations or not, or to raise awareness of imported illegal agricultural products.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A bioavailable strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape for Aotearoa New Zealand: Implications for food forensics and biosecurity

et al. 2022

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“…New methods are currently in development to narrow down region of origin, including a biogeographic approach that uses unsupervised clustering for probabilistic estimates (Algee-Hewitt et al, 2020) and isotopic analyses (Ammer et al, 2020;Bartelink et al, 2020). These methods largely focus on Mexico, with some attention gaining toward Central America (Kramer et al, 2020 (Bethard & DiGangi, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of craniometric data to facilitate migrant identifications at the United States/Mexico border

Spradley

2021

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Thousands of migrants have died along the United States/Mexico border and many remain unidentified. The purpose of this research is to test whether estimations of population affinity, derived from craniometric data, can facilitate identification of migrant remains and provide a geographic region of origin rather than the broad label Hispanic. The appropriateness of current forensic reference data will also be assessed. Methods: A case study combined with craniometric data from positively identified and unidentified migrants from the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (n = 489) in Arizona and operation identification (n = 201) in Texas were compared to skeletal data representing Guatemalan (n = 87) and Mexican (n = 65) Mayans. Biological distance and discriminant function analyses were used to assess overall population relationships and classificatory models for forensic anthropological application.Results: The majority of evidence indicates that estimations of population affinity can assist in the facilitation identification of migrant remains, even when a broad classification is used. Biological distances among the groups suggest that positively identified Guatemalan and Mexican migrants are similar to one another but differ from Guatemalan and Mexican Mayans.Conclusions: Population affinity estimations can aid migrant identification, and current reference data used in forensic anthropological practice should be replaced with data from positive identifications. Estimates of geographic origin may be more useful than the broad generic term Hispanic for narrowing down the search for a missing person, but more data and research is needed to achieve this goal. Although, the utility of geographic origin estimates relies on transnational data centralization and sharing, which is not always the case.

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“…More recently, Ammer, Kootker, et al (2020) measured 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios of hair ( n = 101) and tap water collected in Mexico and found that they were strongly correlated. This has led investigators to use Sr in combination with C and/or O to predict the likely origin of recovered UBC remains (e.g., Bartelink et al, 2018, 2020; Bartelink & Chesson, 2019; Kramer et al, 2020). Mapping products (isoscapes) needed for these geolocation efforts are being rapidly created—that is, for Mexico (Ammer, Kootker, et al, 2020; Juarez et al, 2018; see Figure 2), and the circum‐Caribbean region (Bataille et al, 2012; Laffoon et al, 2017; see Figure 3) as well as other parts of the world (Adams et al, 2019; Bataille et al, 2018, 2020; Daux et al, 2021; Gautam et al, 2020; Shin et al, 2020; Wang & Tang, 2020; Zieliński et al, 2021).…”

Section: Databases and Forensic Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, at least 15,000 individuals are known to have died at European Union borders in the past decade as a result of the migrant or refugee crisis faced by Mediterranean countries (Olivieri et al, 2018;Robins, 2019). Along the southern U.S. border with Mexico, the remains of over 7000 UBCs, have been recovered since 1998 and an untold number may never be found due to the desolate environments used by migrants for crossing the border (Ammer, Bartelink, et al, 2020).…”

Section: Humanitarian Crisesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of stable isotopes in postconflict forensic identification

Chesson

Berg

2021

WIREs Forensic Science

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Stable isotope ratio analysis is becoming an extremely important tool for the forensic investigator. It can be particularly useful in missing persons investigations to help establish an unknown's identity by potentially reconstructing an individual's geolocational history, determining the number of individuals present in a case, and linking/separating remains from commingled assemblages. In this review article, we explore several main themes related to the use of stable isotopes in postconflict forensic identification. First, we describe what stable isotopes are and how global isotopic variation arises in human tissues via natural processes and cultural practices. Next, we discuss the selection of appropriate human tissue samples for examination based on testable hypotheses. We provide guidance on the options that exist for isotope sample preparation, analysis, and data handling; and finally, we examine which sample quality measures and quality assurance approaches should be used in isotope data reporting and interpretation. These themes are primarily presented to help the isotope data consumer understand the benefits and limitations of the technique that might not be apparent when sending samples to and receiving results from a high throughput, contract isotope testing laboratory. Real world examples of forensic stable isotope ratio analysis are provided within the article to highlight many of the concepts, particularly in regard to identification applications. This article is categorized under: Forensic Anthropology > Anthropology in Mass Disaster & War Crime Contexts Forensic Biology > Interpretation of Biological Evidence Forensic Chemistry and Trace Evidence > Emerging Technologies and Methods

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Multi‐isotope approaches for region‐of‐origin predictions of undocumented border crossers from the US–Mexico border

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

A bioavailable strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape for Aotearoa New Zealand: Implications for food forensics and biosecurity

A bioavailable strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape for Aotearoa New Zealand: Implications for food forensics and biosecurity

Use of craniometric data to facilitate migrant identifications at the United States/Mexico border

The use of stable isotopes in postconflict forensic identification

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