Springer Science and Business Media LLC

An underwater disaster may involve a crime scene investigation which should be handled as if it were located above water and include a detailed description and documentation of items, belongings and findings. The environment, however, creates special circumstances, each with specific problems that are not encountered during land investigations. Risks associated with underwater recovery cannot be overestimated and underwater disaster recovery diving should not be performed without special training and careful pre-dive planning. Handling of cadavers in an underwater recovery operation also requires special training and a systematic approach to victim recovery. Environmental circumstances, local judicial requirements, religious and cultural issues and the scope of the disaster are only some of the factors that have to be considered before commencing any aquatic disaster victim recovery operation.

We report on a novel application of real-time reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (real-time RT-LAMP) to identify the presence of a specific body fluid using blood as a proof-of-concept model. By comparison with recently developed methods of body fluid identification, the RT-LAMP assay is rapid and requires only one simple heating-block maintained at a single temperature, circumventing the need for dedicated equipment. RNA was extracted from different body fluids (blood, semen, saliva, menstrual blood, sweat, and urine) for use in real-time RT-LAMP reaction. The 18S rRNA locus was used as the internal control and hemoglobin beta (HBB) as the blood-specific marker. Reverse transcription and LAMP reaction were performed in the same tube using a turbidimeter for real-time monitoring the reaction products within a threshold of 60 min. HBB LAMP products were only detected in blood and not in any of the other body fluid, but products from the 18S rRNA gene were detected in all the tested body fluids as expected. The limit of detection was a minimum of 10−5 ng total RNA for detection of both 18S rRNA and HBB. Augmenting the detection of RT-LAMP products was performed by separation of the products using gel electrophoresis and collecting the fluorescence of calcein. The data collected indicated complete concordance with the body fluid tested regardless of the method of detection used. This is the first application of real-time RT-LAMP to detect body fluid specific RNA and indicates the use of this method in forensic biology.

A 14-year-old African-American female with a long-standing medically and ablation-treated history of tachycardia with associated seizures died suddenly. Upon autopsy, evidence of gross non-compaction involving the left ventricle, as well as possible subtle non-compaction of the right ventricle was discovered. Microscopically, there was focal myocyte hypertrophy as well as myxoid connective tissue and subendocardial fibroelastosis in the areas affected by the non-compaction. Arrhythmia, precipitated by the underlying cardiomyopathy, led to this young girl’s death. Non-compaction cardiomyopathy is a rare cardiac disorder which commonly goes undiagnosed until post-mortem, although diagnosis through echocardiogram, CT, or MRI is possible and there is criterion for diagnosis with each of these.

We report here the case of a death following blunt trauma to the head in which the victim immediately became unconscious and remained unconscious until death. There were no associated intracranial bleeding or visible macroscopic/microscopic injuries to the brain. Additional injuries to other parts of the body included non-fatal contusions and abrasions. The victim was intoxicated, with a blood alcohol level of 168 mg/dl. Therefore, the conclusion was drawn that death in this case was due to the combination of the concussive effects of the head trauma and the central nervous system depressant effects of alcohol.