Abstract
Methods of forensic identification are complex, diverse, and fluid. While theoretically there is a broad-ranging toolkit of identification methods, the realities of this work include limited resources and limited opportunities for applying the full range of techniques to any one case. Using these realities as a departure point, this chapter traces the strategy and pragmatism involved with case load and assignment and considers in this methodological context why some bodies may have a greater chance of being identified than others. Further, this chapter discusses the complexities associated with the identification of deceased undocumented border crossers (UBCs) from south Texas and presents case studies to highlight novel applications of stable isotope analysis as an investigative tool for identifying the dead.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Baker, L. E. (2014). Identification of deceased unauthorized border crossers in the United States. In G. E. Berg & S. C. Ta’ala (Eds.), Biological affinity in forensic identification of human skeletal remains: Beyond black and white (pp. 271–285). Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Bartelink, E. J., Berg, G. E., Beasley, M. M., & Chesson, L. A. (2014a). Application of stable isotope forensics for predicting region of origin of human remains from past wars and conflicts. Annals of Anthropological Practice, 38(1), 124–136.
Bartelink, E. J., Berry, R., & Chesson, L. A. (2014b). Stable isotopes and human provenancing. In X. Mallett, T. Blythe, & R. Berry (Eds.), Advances in forensic human identification (pp. 7–184). Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group.
Bartelink, E. J., MacKinnon, A. T., Prince-Buitenhuys, Tipple, B. J., & Chesson, L. A. (2016). Stable isotope forensics as an investigative tool in missing persons investigations. In S. J. Morewitz & C. Sturdy Colls (Eds.), Handbook of missing persons (pp. 443–462). New York: Springer International Publishing.
Cerling, T. E., Barnette, J. E., Bowen, G. J., Chesson, L. A., Ehleringer, J. R., Remien, C. H., Shea, P., Tipple, B. J., & West, J. B. (2016). Forensic stable isotope biogeochemistry. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 44, 175–206.
Chesson, L. A., Tipple, B. J., Howa, J. D., Bowen, G. J., Barnette, J. E., Cerling, T. E., & Ehleringer, J. R. (2014). Stable isotopes in forensics applications. In T. E. Cerling (Ed.), Treatise on geochemistry (2nd ed., pp. 285–317). New York: Elsevier.
De León, J. (2015). The land of open graves: Living and dying on the migrant trail. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ehleringer, J. R., Cerling, T. E., & West, J. B. (2007). Forensic science applications of stable isotope ratios. In R. D. Blackledge (Ed.), Forensic analysis on the cutting edge: New methods for trace evidence analysis (pp. 399–422). San Diego: Wiley.
Ehleringer, J. R., Thompson, A. H., Podlesak, D., Bowen, G. J., Chesson, L. A., Cerling, T. E., Park, T., Dostie, P., & Schwarcz, H. (2010). A framework for the incorporation of isotopes and isoscapes in geospatial forensic investigations. In J. B. West, G. J. Bowen, T. E. Dawson, & K. P. Tu (Eds.), Isoscapes: Understanding movement, pattern, and process on earth through isotope mapping (pp. 357–387). Dordrecht: Springer.
Fry, B. (2006). Stable isotope ecology. New York: Springer Science+Business Media.
Hodell, D. A., Quinn, R. L., Brenner, M., & Kamenov, G. (2004). Spatial variation of strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) in the Maya region: A tool for tracking ancient human migration. Journal of Archaeological Science, 31(5), 585–601.
Holmes, L. (2008). Living in limbo: The experiences of, and impacts on, the families of missing people. London: Missing People.
Holmes, L. (2016). Missing someone: Exploring the experiences of family members. In S. J. Morewitz & C. Sturdy Colls (Eds.), Handbook of missing persons (pp. 105–126). New York: Springer International Publishing.
Hülsemann, F., Lehn, C., Schneiders, S., Jackson, G., Hill, S., Rossmann, A., Scheid, N., Dunn, P. J. H., Flenker, U., & Schänzer, W. (2015). Global spatial distributions of nitrogen and carbon stable isotope ratios of modern human hair. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 29(22), 2111–2121.
Jimenez, M. (2009). Humanitarian crisis: Migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border. San Diego: ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties and Mexico’s National Commission of Human Rights.
Kim, J., Scully, J. L., & Katsanis, S. H. (2016). Ethical challenges in missing persons investigations. In S. J. Morewitz & C. Sturdy Colls (Eds.), Handbook of missing persons (pp. 163–175). New York: Springer International Publishing.
Kovic, C. (2013). Searching for the living, the dead, and the new disappeared on the migrant trail In Texas: Preliminary report on migrant deaths in south Texas. Austin, Texas: Texas Civil Rights Project. Available from www.texascivilrightsproject.org/5208/migrant-deaths-at-thesouthtexas-border-tcrp-human-rights-report-summer-2013.
Martínez, D. E., Reineke, R. C., Rubio-Goldsmith, R., & Parks, B. O. (2014). Structural violence and migrant deaths in southern Arizona: Data from the Pima County office of the medical examiner, 1990–2013. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 2(4), 257–286.
Meier-Augenstein, W. (2007). Stable isotope fingerprinting chemical element “DNA”? In T. Thompson & S. Black (Eds.), Forensic human identification: An introduction (pp. 29–53). Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group.
Meier-Augenstein, W. (2010). Stable isotope forensics: An introduction to the forensic applications of stable isotope analysis. Chichester: Wiley.
Morewitz, S. J. (2016). Missing persons: Forensic sociological factors. In S. J. Morewitz & C. Sturdy Colls (Eds.), Handbook of missing persons (pp. 93–104). New York: Springer International Publishing.
Morewitz, S. J., & Sturdy Colls, C. (2016). Missing persons: An introduction. In S. J. Morewitz & C. Sturdy Colls (Eds.), Handbook of missing persons (pp. 1–5). New York: Springer International Publishing.
Paulozzi, L. J., Cox, C. S., Williams, D. D., & Nolte, K. B. (2008). John and Jane Doe: The epidemiology of unidentified decedents. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 53(4), 922–927.
Price, T. D., Burton, J. H., Fullagar, P. D., Wright, L. E., Buikstra, J. E., & Tiesler, V. (2015). Strontium isotopes and the study of human mobility among the ancient Maya. In A. Cucina (Ed.), Archaeology and bioarchaeology of population movement among the Prehispanic Maya (pp. 119–132). New York: Springer International Publishing.
Quinet, K. (2007). The missing missing: Toward a quantification of serial murder victimization in the United States. Homicide Studies, 11(4), 319–339.
Reineke, R., & Martínez, D. E. (2014). Migrant deaths in the Americas (United States and Mexico). In T. Brian & F. Laczko (Eds.), Fatal journeys: Tracking lives lost during migration (pp. 45–83). Geneva: International Organization for Migration.
Rose, A. (2012). Showdown in the Sonoran Desert: Religion, law, and the immigration controversy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Valenzuela, L. O., Chesson, L. A., O’Grady, S. P., Cerling, T. E., & Ehleringer, J. R. (2011). Spatial distributions of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios in human hair across the central United States. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 25(7), 861–868.
Wright, L. E. (2005). Identifying immigrants to Tikal, Guatemala: Defining local variability in strontium isotope ratios of human tooth enamel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 32(4), 555–566.
Acknowledgments
I would first like to thank Dr. Krista Latham and Dr. Alyson O’Daniel for their kind invitation to write this chapter. I would also like to acknowledge former CSU, Chico, graduate students Amy MacKinnon and Julia Prince for preparing the Brooks County samples and Sarah Hall for preparing the Tulare County samples. Special thanks also to Lesley Chesson and Dr. Brett Tipple of IsoForensics, Inc., for their assistance with analyzing the strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotopes of bone and tooth samples and to Dr. Joy Matthews of the UC Davis Stable Isotope Facility for analyzing bone collagen samples for carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Finally, thanks to the Tulare County and Brooks County Sheriff’s Offices for their permission to conduct these analyses.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bartelink, E.J. (2018). Identifying Difference: Forensic Methods and the Uneven Playing Field of Repatriation. In: Latham, K., O'Daniel, A. (eds) Sociopolitics of Migrant Death and Repatriation. Bioarchaeology and Social Theory. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61866-1_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61866-1_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61865-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61866-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)