The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is partnering with a forensic expert on human decomposition to study the dispersal of remains in the Edmonton region.
The EPS Canine Unit is partnering with Shari Forbes, research chair in forensic thanatology at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and director of the first human taphonomy facility in Canada, commonly known as Canada’s first “body farm.”
“Forensic taphonomy studies all agents that affect human remains between death and discovery,” says Forbes. “Namely, we look at the physical and chemical processes of death, decomposition, and how this knowledge applies to detector dogs.”
Starting Aug. 11, 2021, Forbes and the EPS Canine Unit will be conducting an animal scavenging study at two sites in the Edmonton area using pig carcasses as substitutes for human bodies.
“The goal of our particular study is to obtain scientific data on how far scavenging by animals disperses human remains in our area,” says S/Sgt Paul Shafer with the EPS Canine Unit. “This will help us improve our searches for human remains, which ultimately allows us to recover the deceased, gather evidence for our investigations and hopefully, bring some degree of resolution to the families of the deceased.”
The completion date of the study will be determined later, as Forbes and EPS members observe the progress of the research sites. At the conclusion of the study, EPS Canine Unit will conduct a search training day to find as many of the scavenged remains as possible.
Forbes, who has completed similar studies in Ontario with the assistance of the OPP Canine Unit, is also giving an educational presentation to EPS members including the Canine Unit, Search Managers, Homicide Section, Forensic Identification Services Section and Missing Persons Unit.
Republished courtesy of Edmonton Police Department. Photo credit: EPS