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The Increasing Role of the Forensic Anthropologist in the Search for the Missing

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Multidisciplinary Approaches to Forensic Archaeology

Part of the book series: Soil Forensics ((SOFO))

Abstract

Forensic anthropology has played a major part in the investigation of human rights’ cases and is increasingly playing an important role in searching for missing persons, and assisting in the identification of the deceased in mass fatality incidents. Since its early years, work which was primarily restricted to the laboratory and mortuary setting with the purpose of identification of the deceased, to the present day the role of the forensic anthropologist has expanded to crime scene attendance in order to understand the contextual information in which human remains, primarily skeletonised, have been found and to assist in their recovery. In particular since the 1990s, forensic anthropologists have been key team players in mass grave investigations. Moreover, in recent years, at least in the United Kingdom, there has been an increasing request for forensic anthropologists to assist in search operations for human remains.

This paper provides a brief overview of the role of the forensic anthropologist, focusing on search in particular, and it highlights its value in a number of scenarios relating to searchisng for the missing.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The American Association of Physical Anthropology (http://physanth.org/, accessed January 2018) defines it as ‘a biological science that deals with the adaptations, variability, and evolution of human beings and their living and fossil relatives. Because it studies human biology in the context of human culture and behaviour, physical anthropology is also a social science’.

  2. 2.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ben-needham-police-to-start-digging-1384886 (accessed January 2018).

  3. 3.

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/madeleine-mccann-search-april-jones-3642420 (accessed January 2018).

  4. 4.

    I undertake an exercise when training police forces and forensic scientists generally, which is to think of a hypothetical scenario and do a little research to explain to the rest of the class how the body would be preserved in such an environment after a certain period of time, what search strategies are planned for this type of scenario, etc., an exercise which seems to be of value.

  5. 5.

    E.g. the exhumation of President Salvador Allende from Chile (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/world/americas/24chile.html – accessed January 2018); Poet Pablo Neruda (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/05/pablo-neruda-poisoning-doubts-fuelled-by-new-forensic-tests – accessed January 2018); the identification of Argentinian soldiers buried in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas (https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-argentina-britain-falklands/scientists-aim-to-identify-remains-of-argentine-soldiers-on-falklands-idUKKBN18S61Y – accessed January 2018).

  6. 6.

    https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/10/20/actualidad/1508500176_449374.html (accessed January 2018).

  7. 7.

    For example, searching for the remains of a British hostage found in Lebanon (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/6592000/Body-found-in-Lebanon-thought-to-be-missing-Alec-Collett.html – accessed January 2018).

  8. 8.

    http://missingpersons.police.uk/en-gb/home (accessed January 2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, UK

    Nicholas Márquez-Grant

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  1. Nicholas Márquez-Grant
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Correspondence to Nicholas Márquez-Grant .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Archaeology and Classics Program, American University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Pier Matteo Barone

  2. Netherlands Forensic Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands

    W. J. Mike Groen

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Márquez-Grant, N. (2018). The Increasing Role of the Forensic Anthropologist in the Search for the Missing. In: Barone, P., Groen, W. (eds) Multidisciplinary Approaches to Forensic Archaeology. Soil Forensics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94397-8_5

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