Thoughts on 'Identifying the Dead'....it's all over bar the cake!

A few of the worksheets

The online course I have been studying is almost at an end. There is one Hang'oot left (where questions by students are answered by experts in that field). Cake is recommended for this live one! We also qualify for our free e-book of Val McDermid's story especially written for the course Identifying the Dead. This last week we have looked at dentition, comparing the victims teeth with those of dental records. The photo shows just a fraction of the worksheets and photos used to identify the dead person.

Last week each had a go at putting together a missing person's poster from a pull and drag collection of eyes, noses and mouths. I was almost right! I had second thoughts about the nose, but should have left well alone because I'd got it first time. The eyes were the easiest to do. No problem there. We came to these conclusions from studying the skull in detail.

Almost right, two out of three

Changed the nose (and it seems the mouth, what???) because I thought the first one was too broad.
I should have stuck with my gut instinct. Too much dithering.

The case ended up with viewing a missing person file. Someone was arrested and it was shown how matches were made from various evidence, including (conveniently) diary entries by both the victim and perpetrator. We were told how the case came to court, the jury (this is in Scotland so jury numbers may be different from England), how evidence is presented, who does what, followed by the verdict and sentence. All through we had videos to watch of experts considering cut marks on bones, face reconstruction as 3D images, weekly hang'oot's, tons of links to various websites and other information as well as the forums.

This has been one of the best online courses I've done. Absolutely fascinating.  The course is going to be run again which is why I haven't said who did it. You may want to discover it for yourself, pull all the pieces together and feel proud of your achievement. I did a lot of work, though I didn't do as much as some people. You should see the drawings and stuff they did (including the cakes made to eat during hang'oots!). I was thrilled to see two of my photos (my CSI ones) on the collage they ran on the last video which I posted to their Twitter feed!

Some last thoughts on things that made me go 'wow' or stuck with me:

• The makeup of the CSI team and other persons who might be involved
• You can't sex the age of children before puberty
• Transgender individuals, even after taking hormones, cannot disguise their maleness in the skull. You would be identified male even if you lived as a female.
• Thinking about primary, secondary and biological identification
• DNA -  not everyone is on the database, but if you were born after 1962 you will have had a Guthrie test as a baby and this information is kept.
• Aging through structure of bones (degeneration)
• Trauma and tools
• Whitnall's tubercle (this one I loved for some reason). From the two points at the edge of the orbits you can define upturned or downturned eyes.
• Missing persons website.

I have amassed a rather thick file which, along with my notes from a previous online course of Forensics, will certainly be a source I shall return to. It may, or may not, be helpful in my writing, but I have enjoyed this for itself. So well put together by a team of experts who were quite happy to answer any questions we had. I'm sure some people might even consider it a career after this (part of the reason these courses are run). I have read of people applying for a full degree in a subject after a course. It certainly gives you a fantastic flavour. I heartily commend this course as I do for FutureLearn as a whole. They run brilliant courses with all sorts of universities. I'm sure I'll be back there when something comes up that sparks the interest. I wonder what it will be next time?