54-1 Why Hasn't Anybody Seen That Money Floating Down the River?.



Monday, October 17, 2011: 1:05 PM
Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, Room 207B, Concourse Level

Philip Scoles, Terra Science, Inc., Portland, OR
Thirty years ago, an unexpected discovery on a sandy beach of several thousand dollars re-fueled interest an unsolved crime.  Since then, no new evidence has surfaced, so officials contend the money naturally washed ashore and become buried by river sediment a decade year.  In 2009, a soil scientist was invited to examine available evidence to validate the 30 year old evidence and investigative conclusions.  Transects were established and soil pits described, which in turn revealed critical new information about this cold case.  Beach accretion and erosion was mapped using aerial photographs.  And closer examination of the aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions prompted new alternatives for this unsolved mystery.  Deductive reasoning, guided by principles of soil geomorphology and fluvial dynamics, have dramatically changed the direction of the criminal case.
See more from this Division: Consulting Soil Scientists
See more from this Session: CSI: Critical Investigations--How Consulting Plays Into Forensic Analysis