first evidence report

Evidence Report

Name : Anne Tam Shift : 5

Evidence inspected: Hair Case# : 012010


On the first day of the crime scenes, I was in charge of hair. In this crime scene, I found the hair on the bottom drawer of the desk. There was a chair that was toppled over right next to the desk, making it seem as if though the victim had fallen off the chair and had hit her head on the desk drawer. When the hair was found, we had our lead investigator, Korey Streck, collect the hair and place it into an envelope; sealing it shut with evidence tape and writing his initials, the location, and time on the front of the envelope. When Korey was collecting the hair, he wore gloves so he would not contaminate the evidence with his fingerprints or anything that could be left on the hair from his hands. Usually the evidence would be given to the lead investigator; however, Korey was already the lead investigator. He had to collect the rest of the evidence from the rest of the group, place it into the evidence bag, and seal it before turning it in.

When hair is found in a crime scene, the hair is usually collected with patience and care. Always make sure you have gloves on or have a pair of forceps before handling the evidence because you could contaminate it; leaving traces of you on the evidence. When hair is collected, it is brought to the lab for the scientists to examine. Under powerful microscopes, the scientists first look for the medulla; the center of the hair, to determine what origin the hair is from; human or animal. If the medulla index is less than 1/3, then it is human. If the medulla index is greater than ½, then it is animal. To find the medullary index, one must measure the diameter of the medulla and divide it by the diameter of the hair. Based off of the medulla (if human), the hair shaft, the cross sectional shape, and the pigment granules can tell the scientist what race the hair came from; Caucasoid, Mongaloid, or Negroid. Not only can hair tell you what race the hair came from, it can also tell you where on the body it came from. All the hair on a person’s body is different in their own ways, whether it is darker or lighter, thinner or thicker. For example, you can tell when a hair is pubic hair because it is stiff textured and very wiry. Also, pubic hair shows buckling. Compared to limb hair, which is very soft in texture, it is obvious to a scientist under a microscope where the hair evidence originated from. Though hair is usually considered to be class evidence, it can also be considered individual evidence if the hair has DNA on the end of it. Usually when a struggle occurs in the crime scene and hair is left behind, the end of the hair has DNA on it; and that is because of the root and follicle. The root contains nuclear DNA, and that DNA can help scientists figure out who the suspect is. Anyway, after testing the hair for race and ownership, we have concluded that the hair is from a young, mid-twenty, Caucasoid female. The lab figured this out because at the end of a couple hairs, there were some part of the root still attached, showing that there had been some sign of a struggle. After we ran a couple more tests and look under a microscope to view the medulla and calculate the medullary index, the origin of the hair is now clear; it belonged to the sister of Cherry Pitts; Peach Pitts. And because of the sign of struggle through the hair, we have concluded that Peach Pitts has most likely been kidnapped. Though the end of this case is not closer, we as forensic investigators will find out what has happened to Peach Pitts and solve this case!