forensic

Question came from discussion of Delphi case among us interested in true crime but interested in general to know for discussing other true crime cases.

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In what we do in the shadows, the vampires can't use a tactile screen, supposedly because they're dead. Does that make sense? And would ideas finger work on a digital screen ?

Hi everyone! I’m currently studying for a biology degree in Canada, and I’m interested in moving to the U.S. to work in the forensic field, ideally in crime scene investigation. I’m curious to know if there are opportunities for Canadian graduates to secure civilian forensic positions in the U.S. Are entry level positions available as that would be my main goal. I’ve also had an internship at a microbiology lab over the summer.

Has anyone here or anyone you know made the move from Canada to the U.S. to work in forensics? I’d love to hear about the process, challenges, and any advice on making it happen.

Also, are there additional certifications or training I could pursue to boost my chances? Any guidance or suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Hi r/forensics experts and enthusiasts. I helped a woman with her travel bag. She was struggling to get it up the stairs and making a lot of noise as a result which made me help her in getting it up the stairs so that I could go to bed without that much noise.

However, I'm afraid that my prints might be lifted from the pack. She's new in my apartment complex and I've only seen her a couple of times. She mentioned that she's here to help her sister but as far as I know, that apartment was rented out to a couple of guys. Can she lift my prints and frame me for some crime?

What do you think??

Edit: I think I might be sure now (although give your analysis any time you see this anyways please) about the self harm part. I've seen their arm, and it seems they used the instrument (bottom of the picture) to make multiple cat scratch like cuts on their arm, sort of like rows. As if a cat scratched you many times.

https://preview.redd.it/qbjt98jke00e1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=931dc950e5ecb7f6d10adc64c6ceac7d3a9c09d3

I was watching this TV show where this killer was putting eyedrop in spaghetti after it was already cooked. And there was like a string of murders that he was doing. I was just wondering if that was even possible with the way that chemicals react with each other. would the heat negate the effects of the eyedrops? Or would it still kill even in it was mixed with other liquids within the food.

Hello everyone! This may be a silly ask but I’m navigating new territory, I am graduating and looking to get my foot in the door. I will have completed my associate in science in about 3 weeks before pursuing my bachelors and want to know what kinds of entry level positions I could work in forensics even if it’s mostly filing I’m open to suggestions! Thank you in advance!

Hello! I’m a high school student interested in becoming a forensic analyst. I’m just wondering if any forensic analysts of Morocco could talk to me about the job prospects? Thank you!

For postgraduates and professionals in forensic, what has been the most challenging part of the journey? I'm in my third year at uni and it's definitely not been a walk in the park

Welcome to our weekly discussion thread about forensic science!

Forensic Scientists and Professionals! What's going on this week?

Use any of the following as a prompt if you need to

• What do you do?
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Remember! Don't reveal identifying info on decedents or victims. Change names or use nicknames if you must.

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Use any one of the following as a prompt if you need to

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Remember! Don't ask us to do your homework or assignments for you. We did the work and you have to do it too.

If you are asking for education or employment advice, please read our subreddit guide first and then look at our resources in the sidebar. If what we have doesn't address your needs, you can ask us a question here! Let us know where you are and which country or countries you're considering for school.

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Confused by all the job titles, requirements, and worried about things like starting salary? Please take a look at this collection of posts from /u/Cdub919, one of our verified forensics members.

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Hi, I am currently in college, and for my current assignment, I have to interview someone in a career I am interested in doing after college. It would be better if I PM one of you guys since I am required to write down some personal information. I'm guessing it's so the professor knows we didn't just straight-up lie.

Here are the questions

Describe your typical work day.

What do you enjoy most about your career and current position?

What do you dislike about your career or current position?

What challenges or barriers did you have to overcome to get into your career?

What skills do you feel are most important for a position in this field?

As a college student, what do I really need to know/do to have a successful entry into this career?

Thank you to anyone that responds :)

I am seeking advice in regards to a high profile case involving a female who was located deceased in a “Clandestine Grave” with obvious characteristics of murder. The M.E. was given witness testimony and he was observed by detectives doing the autopsy. The body is photographed and marked but the report doesn’t match the photos. ◦ Her clothes are removed and photographed but are oddly clean to found in red clay dirt. These clothes were not even processed by Dept of Forensics ◦ There is severely swollen eye and bruising covering her face. Her body is covered in bruises and suspicious imprints on her face ◦ The ME said he couldn’t clip her fingernails bc they had been cut down to her nail beds. This was not done by the ME and there is no way she could have done that to herself ◦ The date of death was recorded to have happened 13 days before her body was recovered but she has minimal decomposition. ◦ A second autopsy performed found she could not have been deceased more than 1-3 days prior to being buried and 6 days was the absolute maximum amount of days ◦ The hole was 2’x3’x2’ and net body was in the fetal position with her back facing up. Her head was at the highest level and angled upward ◦ Wrapped in 2 sheets, Both tied at each end. These sheets were not sent for forensic testing ◦ She had been redressed but messily ◦ The rape kit was sent out but no one admitted to seeing the results. Her death was classified before those results even came back. After obtaining a copy of those results, there was blood located in all 3 cavities. ( The people who admittedly had her were convicted sex offenders and violent to say the least) ◦ Her toxicology results came back with disclaimers saying the results are not to be used for forensic purposes. The Dr had to sign a waiver saying her blood was grossly coagulated and the results would be wrong. The Dr signed that release. ◦ The witness statements ended up coming from the people that were with her & 5 years later, there has been ever changing stories. The ME was going off of information that ended up to not be true, at no fault of his own ◦ No one contacted the family regarding prescriptions she was taking, she was prescribed Wellbutrin ◦ This death was ruled an “Accidental Overdose” Meth & Morphine Toxicity

Her body was exhumed this year and a second autopsy was performed. Unfortunately, because the death is classified accidental, there is nothing LE will do to investigate this case. Is there any advice or recommendations on how to ask the ME to revisit his findings??? There are a lot of parts to this case and we really do not want to come across to the ME as accusatory or disrespectful. Please, any help would be appreciated.

Just want to note, we have received all official autopsy photos

What hours / how many hours a day do you work?

Would I still be able to spend time with family/ how often?

How many off days (not at work) per year?

Is it good pay?

As someone with ptsd how might it effect my mental health?

What is the most disturbing thing you might expect to see or have to do?

If someone had a forensics podcast in the works...what questions would you want to hear answered?

My great uncle passed in a house fire. My parents have been told multiple times that the house is a crime scene. Is this normal for a house fire or indicative of something being suspicious? Google is not giving me the answer I’m looking for.

Edited to add: he was 98 with no major medical issues. He was so badly burned that he is only identifiable by dental records. I am sick over the fact that he passed this way.

After leaving home for half an hour and returned , I found mom(79F) curled in bed and her neck in weird stretched position. she never sleeps in fetal position. When I checked, she was breathless. She was about to sleep when I left home . She had overthrown her blanket.paramedics took her to hospital and she got ROSC after intubation . After a sustained ROSC for 8 hours , her blood pressure dropped and heart stopped again. On her death certificate only cardiac arrest is written. They have not been able to diagnose what caused it. I am about to lose my mind how mom was good before I left and suddenly passed away. She was feeling cold in summer like all old women. She was good and about to sleep. What can cause her death ?

Hi all so I decided to apply for my masters and have gotten into almost all colleges i applied to. I have questions about internships where can i start looking for one and with who? Im willing to go anywhere and everywhere for an internship at this point for any experience moving forward but dont know where to start looking and applying?

Is it the peridontal ligamets drying up and keeping them in or simply friction?

I never thought I’d be posting here, but I need help. My 33-year old brother was found unresponsive last Sunday, 10/27, sitting upright in his recliner at the assisted living facility/group home where he resided. He saw my mom two days prior and wasn’t feeling well, but the caretakers at the home said he was acting normal and getting better. We were told he got up on Sunday morning, ate breakfast, showered, and went to relax in his chair around 10:30 AM. They called him for lunch at about 12/12:30 PM, and he didn’t come out, which wasn’t abnormal. But after an hour or so went by, they went to check on him and found him at about 2 PM. That’s the time of the 911 call.

EMTs came and attempted CPR. EMTs apparently told the residents that they got a pulse and were taking him to the ER. They attempted to revive him at the ER, but minutes after he arrived, he was pronounced dead.

My mom said that he felt cold soon after he was pronounced dead at the ER, had a nosebleed while she was sitting with his body, and was starting to develop rigor mortis and mottled skin by the time she left the hospital three hours later.

My brother was overweight (5’4 and 300 lbs), but only 33. His death was unattended. However they did not recommend an autopsy and insisted he passed of natural causes. The medical examiner reviewed his records and released him to the funeral home a day later.

However, today, I was told that his primary care doctor needed more information regarding what happened and was questioning “natural causes” due to my brother’s age. He had no chronic or diagnosed conditions except for sleep apnea. Did not drink or use substances, and was not suicidal. I think they neglected to investigate because of his size. My mom was too bereft to question it and trusted the word of the caretakers at the home. He also looked totally relaxed as though he passed in his sleep. No signs of any distress.

However, I’m in a state of panic about what actually happened to him.

It’s been 10 days since his passing. Can cause of death be determined after this amount of time?

Can they determine if it was sleep apnea, aneurysm, cardiac arrest, or something else?

Can they still ascertain his true time of death? If he was cold moments after his declared time of death in the ER, what was the actual timeline?

Something isn’t adding up. We need answers, and I need your help. I truly appreciate any insight anyone here can provide.

Thank you.

Hi, I have a master’s degree in biology, have been working in the molecular biology industry for years.

Becoming a criminalist was my dream. Now I finally get my green card and eligible for government jobs.

I wonder is being a criminalist a stressful job? As myself is dealing with anxiety, work stress really affects my career choices. I got burn out doing CLS during the pandemic, had to quit CLS.

Welcome to our weekly general discussion thread!

Feel free to chat with your fellow forensically-minded redditors about anything! Introduce yourself, show us pictures of your cat, complain about your kids, lament about exams/work, tell us what you're eating today... whatever you want!

Here are a few resources that might answer your questions:

A subreddit wiki with links and resources to education and employment matters, archived discussions on more intermediate topics in education and employment, what kind of major you need, what degree programs are good, etc.

• The subreddit Guide - Consider this an FAQ about our community and our field. Look here for basic education and employment questions/answers you might have. Didn't find what you were looking for? Please post in our weekly scheduled posts or to the subreddit. Note: please do use a desktop browser to view all features.
• List of verified forensics professionals
• Subreddit collections (please view on desktop browsers) on the following topics:
  • Education and Employment
  • Mental Health and Preparation for Working in Forensics
  • What It's Like Working in Forensics
  • Employment: Job Titles, Job Requirements, and Starting Salary in Forensic Science

​

Q "All drugs carry the risk for what type of dependency?" a. physical b. psychological c. physiological d. mental e. all of the above

The correct answer is e and I chose b. To my knowledge, drugs like LSD or marijuana are not considerd to be physically addictive ( although I have heard personal testimonies about physically rough withdrawl symptoms )

Weather or not I'm right or wrong, I think it is important ( for my ego lol ) to mention that my book said:

"Long - term abuse of cannabinoids has the potential to lead to psychological dependence. It's often viewed as the gateway drug, which means those who engage in regular marijuana use will often experiment with more serious drugs that lead to physiological addiction."

Which I think IMPLIES that it does not make one physiologically dependent. Especially because the book also never gave definitions of addiction vs dependence; leading me to googling and gathering that they are essentially the same damn thing! whats the difference :'D ?

From just some hobby searching I did a few years ago, I learned that dependence = you will die without the drug. This does not seem to be true lol -

This is from my Intro to Forensic Science class btw. It's a homeschool thing, I have no teacher to ask, just the book.

( Warning : Im a dummy and dont know nothing about forsenics, I have ZERO credentials and exprience, and im not the sharpest tool in the box 😅 )

Heyy, I was wondering about this question cause I watching a documentary about this thief and then went down the rabbit hole of forensics science and how, specifically, touch dna works. And this question is the one that stomps me the most, how come DNA from skin cells it isnt found at every scene? Does certain clothing or environmental factors prevent such from happening? I'd love to learn from you guys! I respect the work you intelligent people do.

Curious to see- how many of y’all’s departments require you to wear a body worn camera on scenes? Our department has decided to start requiring us to wear BWCs to every scene and while packaging evidence. I want to know if this is common.

Hi, I'm currently working towards a Forensic Science BA (likely followed with an MS, but undecided) with a heavy focus on chemistry and biology in the courses. I was wondering if any Europeans here (especially Germans) would know about the process for landing a DNA analyst job abroad as someone obtaining their degree in the US. From what I understand, crime scene technician jobs require citizenship, but since I'm uncertain about lab work any advice would be helpful as I'm struggling to find any information on this online. Thanks!

Long story short My brother went missing over a year ago and I think his girlfriend at the time had something to do with it. She moved out of the house where they both lived a few months after he went missing. I went by their house and found interior car parts in the yard. There was plastic pieces that pops off. ( seat belt bolt covers, door panels, floor mats) pretty much everything inside except the seats and carpet) I reported this to the investigators but they told me there wasn’t a crime that was committed so they don’t want the parts. I did my research and ordered blue-star spray. And it did glow. Am I able to send them anywhere to see it’s actually blood and test to see if the DNA is indeed my brothers?

So I tried googling the answer but nothing was really coming up, and then I wasn’t sure which subreddit to ask this in so I chose a pretty broad one, and this one.

Okay so I‘m a college student, and I’ve just started attending parties on my campus, and predictably, they’ve been serving alcohol every time. I always want to participate to get that college life experience and have a little fun, you know?

But recently I’ve been doing a lot of research into the employment qualifications and disqualifications of federal jobs. I know that they polygraph test you when you apply, and obviously I don’t want to lie on that test, but I also obviously don’t want to say I’ve been drinking underage.

So I’m wondering if anybody here would know what the federal governments rules are for underage drinking, and if you get asked any questions about it on the polygraph test? Should I avoid it entirely or would I be fine if I indulged every once in a while?