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.
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My guess would be no. I would think the formaldehyde would destroy the DNA in the cells, though I don’t know for sure, and in any event they weren’t doing DNA in the 70’s so you’d have to find something of the person’s to compare the eyeball DNA. If you have something of the person’s retained from the 70’s, especially hair for example, perhaps there is mitochondrial DNA in some cell in the eyeballs that could still be obtained and compared to the mDNA from the hair.Otherwise I doubt ophthalmologists would take or save retinal scans back in the 70’s. Hope that helps. Best of luck!
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She should try to get an internship with a local agency--city, county, state police or medical examiner's. Practical experience will count for a lot. However much depends on what kind of forensic scientist she wants to be--does she want to do crime scene work, in which case most of the training is on the job, or does she want to work in a lab, in which case she'll probably need at least a BA in biology or chemistry. She can check forensic organization websites and government websites for job vacancy postings to get an idea of what the job requirements are. She might also check out entry level positions. At our department we have PSA--Public Service Aides, a paid position that's basically a step between community volunteers and sworn officers. They do more cop-type things, but will make contacts and learn a lot. They do things like direct traffic at accident scenes, take burglary reports and process scenes for fingerprints. She might also want to consider that forensic positions involving crime scene work often have unpredictable hours and sometimes overtime, which might be difficult to juggle with child care arrangements.
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At a guess, I would suggest: slash marks that are too wide for a knife, some partially healed, would indicate animal claws inflicted at different times, but none deep enough or near vital arteries to cause bleeding out. Then water in the lungs would indicate drowning, though that is not always a definite indicator. Drowning is an elimination diagnosis, as in you eliminate other possible causes.
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A good way to get a handle on the situation is to look at online job postings from places where you might want to work--the local police department, the county morgue, the state crime lab. They will post the duties and requirements for each position. You can also check the same information on the websites of professional organizations such as the American Academy of Forensic Sciences or the International Association for Identification. That should give you a good start.
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Most people die in their homes, so that's the 'normal' place to find them, but there are plenty of more unusual incidents as well. It's never scary, though, since when I go there I'm surrounded by cops, EMS workers, possibly firemen, Medical Examiner staff etc. I always observe the body where it is found, since that is my job. The Medical Examiner's or Coroner's office staff examines the body at their lab, so they can choose to come to the scene or not. If the death appears to be straightforward and natural, they will often not come to the scene and simply have the body transported to them.
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I'm sorry but I'm not versed in microbiology.
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