| Institution: | 1. Universidad Antonio Nariño, Facultad de Ingeniería Ambiental and Facultad de Ciencias, Calle 22 sur No. 12d-81, Bogotá, Colombia;2. Department of Criminal Justice and Forensics, School of Law, Policing & Forensics, Science Centre, Staffordshire University, Leek Road, Stoke on Trent, ST4 2DF U.K
School of Geography, Geology and Environment, Keele University, Keele, Staffs, ST5 5BG U.K;3. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC;4. Equipo Colombiano Interdisciplinario de Trabajo Forense y Asistencia Psicosocial, EQUITAS, Avenida Carrera 24 No. 40-44 Oficina 202, Bogotá, Colombia;5. School of Geography, Geology and Environment, Keele University, Keele, Staffs, ST5 5BG U.K |
| Abstract: | Colombian forensic investigators required assistance locating clandestine burials of missing persons related to human right atrocities from 14 years ago. Geoscientific search methods were trialled, including a predictive spatial statistical model, using various input and database information, to select the most likely grave locations in difficult mountainous terrain. Groundwork using forensic geomorphology, near-surface geophysics (ERT) and subsequent probing identified suspect burial positions. One site was in mountainous terrain and the other in former school grounds, both difficult to access and in poor weather conditions. In the mountainous area, a negative resistivity anomaly area was identified and intrusively investigated, found to be a buried rock. In school grounds, after MESP and intelligence were used to identify a burial site, surface depressions were identified, and ERT datasets collected over the highest priority depression; intrusive investigations discovered a hand-dug pit containing animal bones. This approach is suggested for Latin American searches. |
