LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
Yes. It's not common, but prints have been lifted using superglue or the more recent RTX. The best areas would be those that are smooth, clean and largely free of hair.
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Titles and job requirements aren't uniform, so the only way to know is to call the crime labs in your area or wherever you might be interested in working and ask them. At the coroner's office we had to have at least a bachelor's in a natural science (this was before they had forensic science majors). At the police department where I am now, they only require a high school diploma but you get more points in the interviewing process for having a four year degree, so we all have one. You can also go on the websites for professional organizations such as the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and check out their job vacancy postings and see what the various positions require. Good luck.
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Not that I'm aware of. Are you sure they were destroyed? Or simply not located at that office?
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Gunshot residue can actually refer to two things, gunpowder that flies out of the barrel with the bullet and can land on the victim, and primer residue that can leak out of the back of the bullet cartridge and spray out onto the shooter's hand. But it can also get on the gun or nearby surfaces or people so presence of it on hands does not prove someone fired a gun, and it can wipe off easily so absence of it doesn't prove they did.
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The vast, vast majority of people who kill people didn't plan to kill someone, so they often leave fingerprints, blood, witnesses, text messages, and then come up with some sort of story that sounded good in their head but wouldn't fool a 6 year old.
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As I am not trained in accident investigation, I wouldn't have any idea.
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I don't know, but it could depend mostly on where the sample was sent and what their backlog is. Some state labs might have a bad backlog. It could also depend on how they prioritize samples.
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