The Body Farm

[bleachedblack]

I have never been there. The Body Farm has been in existence since 1980 , originally set up by Dr. Bass to study and find answers often sought from forensic anthropoligists in the event of a death. When the farm was started little was known about "timing" deaths. Over more than 25 years now, with the help and evolution of other sciences ie forensic entomology a whole lot has been learned IMO this is a fascinating new field . This is an excerpt from the website. There is also a book by Patricia Comwell that first made the Body Farm as well known as it is today.

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"What is the "Body Farm"?
That's the nickname for the scientific facility I set up at the University of Tennessee in 1980 to study human decomposition. Officially, it's called the "Anthropology Research Facility," but thanks to a bestselling Patricia Cornwell novel that featured the facility, it's much more widely known as the "Body Farm." At the time I created it, it was the world's only facility of its kind. It still is.


What is its purpose?
Its main focus has always been to observe and understand the processes and timetable of postmortem decay, primarily to improve our ability to determine what's called "time since death" in murder cases. In recent years, though, the facility has played an increasingly important role in developing or testing new forensic technologies, and also in training law-enforcement groups like FBI agents, crime-scene technicians, and cadaver dogs and their handlers. It's a unique scientific resource--you can do research there that can't be done anywhere else in the world.


Why is time since death so important?
When I'm called to a murder scene, the first question the police ask me is nearly always, "How long has this person been dead?" It's crucial to know when the crime was committed, because that can really help narrow the search for a suspect--or can help rule out potential suspects who had alibis at the time the victim was killed. Now, if the body's fresh--no more than a day or two old--a medical examiner can generally pin down the time since death to within a matter of hours. But if the body's badly decayed--for instance, if it was dumped in the woods and lay there for weeks or months before being found by hunters--determining time since death requires detailed knowledge of the stages of decomposition, the role of temperature and humidity, the extent of insect activity in the corpse, and so on. Those are the kinds of variables we've spent decades researching at the Body Farm.


What kinds of research have you conducted to understand time since death?
Our early research projects were incredibly simple, because we knew almost nothing about decomposition rates. We put bodies out at the facility and watched to see when various limbs fell off. It sounds silly, but nobody knew even those rudimentary things. Gradually we got more and more specific with our research questions: How does the decomp rate compare in sunshine versus shade? In cool weather versus hot weather? In a shallow grave versus on the ground? In water? Inside a car? What effect do other variables have--clothing, body weight, and so on?

http://www.deathsacre.com/faq.html

[bleachedblack]

According to Wikipedia the body farm was originally started in 1971 (above the website I quoted said 1980) which I think sounds more correct -1971.

[justinsmama]

Well, it would not be research that I would enjoy doing, but thank goodness there are those who do!

[bleachedblack]

It really is very interesting IMO. For instance they can determine the time of death fairly accurately by studing the insect infestation that has occured on a body and how far this has progressed by noting what type of bugs are found, and in what stage of maturation, and by then having the knowledge of the length of the life cycle/stages of a fly and figure how long ago someone has been killed by noting what activity exists on a decomposing body. Of course time of year/ climate along with other factors need to be configured in.......

This is part of what is studied at the Body Farm.

http://www.forensicentomology.com/appear.htm

[msmarple]

The bodies come from:

Unclaimed bodies, willed bodies, donated bodies (by family members)

[pdh3]

I've seen a few documentaries on this guy. He's very interesting, and not as weird as you might think. I enjoyed hearing the science behind the detective work. It was fascinating.

But I have no deisre to visit his workplace!

[msmarple]

Associated Press wire story, 03/07/2007:

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson suffered massive fractures and likely died immediately in the 1959 plane crash that also killed early rock 'n' rollers Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, a forensic anthropologist said Tuesday after exhuming the body.

The performer's son, Jay Richardson, hired Dr. Bill Bass, a well-known forensic anthropologist at the University of Tennessee, to look at the remains in Beaumont, Texas.

There have been rumors a gun might have been fired on board the plane and that the Big Bopper might have survived the crash and died trying to get help.

Bass took X-rays of the body and found nothing Tuesday to support those theories.

"There was no indication of foul play," Bass said in a telephone interview from Beaumont. "There are fractures from head to toe. Massive fractures. ... (He) died immediately. He didn't crawl away. He didn't walk away from the plane."

The rock 'n' roll stars' plane crashed after taking off from Mason City, Iowa, on February 3, 1959 -- a tragedy memorialized as "the day the music died" in Don McLean's song "American Pie."

Jay Richardson, who performs in tribute shows as "The Big Bopper Jr.," didn't know his father, who gained fame with the hit "Chantilly Lace." His mother was pregnant with him when his father died.

The Civil Aeronautics Board determined pilot error was the cause of the crash. A gun that belonged to Holly was found at the crash site, fueling rumors that the pilot was shot, but no one has ever proved a gun was fired during the flight.

Richardson watched Bass open the coffin on Tuesday and observed his examination. He said he was pleased with the findings because it proved the investigators "knew what they were talking about 48 years ago."

"I was hoping to put the rumors to rest," he said.

Bass and Richardson were surprised to find the body preserved enough to be recognizable.

"Dad still amazes me 48 years after his death, that he was in remarkable shape," Richardson said. "I surprised myself. I handled it better than I thought I would."

The body was reburied in the cemetery but in a different plot where there will be room for a graveside statue to be installed later.

Bass, 78, is a pioneer in his field and has worked on such famous cases as confirming the identity of the Lindbergh baby that was kidnapped in 1932 and murdered.