Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
For the time being, neither dogs nor people nor vultures nor machines can do it alone.
This is especially the case with clandestine burials. A decade-long FBI study on clandestine
graves points to the problems of detection: The average age of the burial at the time of the
search was four to six years. The bodies were typically off the beaten path, away from traveled
roads and paths, surrounded by heavy brush, and buried up to two and a half feet deep.
Unless a murderer confesses and provides a detailed and, more importantly, correct map,
looking for a grave takes an enormous number of investigator hours. Then there's investigator
bias, cadaver-dog handler bias, forensic archaeologist bias. You can end up with holes dug all
over creation. It's exhausting, discouraging work.
“Personally, I think dogs are invaluable for this type of work, but I don't think they should
be used alone,” Arpad Vass said. “I'm very cautious about digging a hole where a dog alerts.”
That's not because Arpad doesn't trust good cadaver dogs. He's a fan, and the dogs are
doing their best. But scent moves, chemical plumes move, decomposition moves. A victim's
remains can be hundreds of feet away from where the dog alerts.
“You need a backup plan,” Arpad said. Several, preferably. Ground-penetrating radar can
help, but GPR throws false positives as well and can't be used in all terrains. Also helpful are
a hydrogeologist, a magnometer, a metal detector, and great investigators who manage to set
aside their preconceptions.
Last, a machine that can recognize the four hundred or so volatile compounds we vent as
we head back to dust. That's why the National Institute of Justice decided to support Arpad
and his colleagues' work to create a machine that could measure “odor mortis.”
Enter Arpad's LABRADOR. That's an acronym for Lightweight Analyzer for Buried Re-
mains and Decomposition Odor Recognition. It should be in production this year. It looks
like a metal detector. It's not meant to replace anything. It's meant to complement the whole
kit and caboodle—investigators, ground-penetrating radar, geologists, forensic archaeolo-
gists, hydrologists, magnometers, and cadaver dogs and their handlers.
LABRADOR's early promotional literature, probably because Arpad helped author it, was
modest: “The sensitivity of the instrument does not yet compare with that of a canine's nose.”
Arpad is human, though. He couldn't resist one additional piece of furry marketing to his
prototype beside the acronym: The silhouette of a square-muzzled hunting dog once graced
the early machine's instrument panel. Sadly, the company producing Arpad's machine de-
cided to remove both the silhouette and the original name. I doubt it's because they prefer
German shepherds.
