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Police in the UK received information that a person had been reported as missing. Despite a diligent search and investigation, the person was not found. Several years later police received intelligence giving the location of a grave believed to contain the remains of the person previously reported as missing and now believed to be a victim of homicide. This new information suggested the missing person had been murdered and their remains were buried in shallow, unmarked grave. Following a systematic search, the murder victim’s body was found at a shallow depth, less than 1 m. Following the forensic recovery of the body soil samples were collected at, beneath the floor of the grave, along strike of the grave, downslope and upslope. Analysis of the soil samples showed elevated levels of putrescine, at nearly 150 ppb in the soils beneath, downslope and for several meters upslope from the body at localities where detector dogs had showed an ‘interest’ before the grave was discovered. The mineralogical analysis, using integrated automated mineralogy and petrology detected the presence of diagenetic calcite in the soil profile beneath the grave. Additionally, the organic analysis detected the presence of elevated stanols at the grave and down slope. Missing Person: Case Overview Police in the United Kingdom received a missing person report. A police investigation was initiated into the circumstances of this disappearance and despite extensive enquiries that included multiple searches, no trace of the missing person was found. The case remained open with enquiries ongoing. All aspects of the investigation were subject to regular and ongoing review. Where any new or different information came to light this was investigated with regular assessment and challenge. This process continued until the known circumstances of the disappearance changed when a person subsequently confessed to police that they had murdered the missing person. The offender disclosed how the grave has been concealed. A detailed description was provided of the location where the victim had been buried together with the circumstances of the burial and the concealment. This admission and the information provided by the offender led to the identification of a search location that was situated within a large, rural and isolated area of moorland. The site was known to the offender and victim as they had visited many times in the past. Whilst acknowledging the validity and accuracy of the information provided in the admission, it became apparent that the nature of the location, in terms of its appearance and in particular the size and areal coverage of the vegetation had changed considerably in the period that had elapsed since the burial took place. These changes had altered the appearance of the location to such an extent that the exact position of the grave could not initially be identified. Access routes and footpaths across the site, that were available in the past, had also been altered or in some cases removed completely, making orientation on the basis of the description given (from recollections of the site as it appeared in the past), extremely difficult. AC CE PT ED M AN US CR IP T Geology of the Search Area The search area was located in an area of outstanding natural beauty, within a range of hills that comprise elevated moorland with incised stream valleys. The natural vegetation consisted of deciduous woodland, with low lying, dense ferns up to 2.5 m high, which provided heavy ground cover. The bedrock was Namurian strata, consisting of Kinderscout Grit (known also as the Millstone Grit). This consists of massive, strong, well-jointed, cross-bedded sandstone that forms a prominent escarpment of differentially weathered rock tors overlying shale, mudstone or siltstone. Beneath this escarpment extends a boulder strewn field with individual boulders at least 10-20 m. These moved down-slopes probably during periglacial conditions approximately 10,000 to 13,000 years before present (Donnelly, 2008). These boulders were probably used by the offender to navigate across the landscape and to provide cover during the digging of the grave and burial of the missing person. Peat and periglacial solifluction deposits up to c0.5-1.0m thick are present on the upper and middle valley slopes. Peat, covering the bedrock, is a biogenic deposit, which represents partially decomposed and disintegrated plant remains. These are preserved under conditions of incomplete aeration and high water content. Peat accumulates where there is high rainfall and the ground is poorly drained. Peat is acidic, with a pH in the range of 3.0 to 5.0, which may have contributed to the preservation of human remains over a period of many years. Peat can also facilitate the relative rapid digging of a grave. Search Strategy Geoforensic advances in search A search definition is defined as, ‘the capability to locate specified targets, using intelligence assessment, systematic procedures, and appropriate detection techniques’ (College of Policing, 2012). In the past decade geological methods, strategies and techniques commonly used in mineral exploration and ground investigations have been applied to law enforcement ground searches for burials. This commenced in 1994 during the search for an unmarked grave in a remote part of the Pennines, a range of hills in northern England (Donnelly, 2003). These new approaches are based on: the development of a Conceptual Geological Model (CGM) for the suspected grave (including the topography, geomorphological processes, properties of the superficial deposits and bedrock and the hydrogeological conditions); an assessment of the conditions of the burial and their detectability (e.g. the degree of preservation or decomposition of a body and associated items); an evaluation of the diggability of the ground; the choice of suitable suite of search assets (e.g. ground and air based observations, detector dogs, geochemical surveys, geophysics and auguring), a specific search methodology, utilisation of Red-Amber-Green (RAG) prioritisation maps and a dedicated forensic recovery and recording team. These are conveniently managed, designed and implemented in presearch, search and post-search phases. Further information on recent advances in ground searches may be found in Donnelly 2008, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c; Donnelly & Harrison 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017; Harrison & Donnelly 2007, 2008, 2009; Pringle et al., 2012; Ruffell 2012; Hope 2013; Peffers 2013; Ferguson 2013; Cook and Tattersall 2016. Preliminary search As noted above, an original search conducted at the time the person was reported missing did not locate the victim. Several years later a preliminary search operation was initiated when the police received intelligence that a victim had been buried in a remote location. This involving a forensic excavation led by a forensic archaeologist. Unfortunately, despite an appropriately planned and resourced operation, the victim’s remains was not located. AC CE PT ED M AN US CR IP T Advance search It became apparent to the police that the size of the search area, complexity of the vegetation and changes that had been made to the landscape (e.g. road access and footpaths) had led to confusion and disorientation on the part of the offender. It therefore became necessary for a search planning team to be established. A Police Search Advisor (PolSA) was appointed to lead the planning and management of the search. Throughout the early planning stages, a forensic geologist (co-author) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) National Search Advisor (co-author) were also consulted. It was necessary for the police to develop a proportionate search strategy. The police were aware that a new search strategy had been developed associated with the search of another missing person who went missing about 50 years earlier (Donnelly, 2003). This search was also being conducted in a similar geographical and geological setting. As such, an open area, scenario based and feature focused search strategy was designed and deployed to locate the victim’s grave. This commenced with a site visit and inspection and walk-over survey of the search area. As a result, a planning structure was subsequently agreed, which resulted in the development of a cost-effective, proportionate and pragmatic search strategy and a resulting Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for searching the location in question. The initial stages of the planning process engaged are provided below: Reconnaissance site inspection and walk-over survey with all interested stakeholders including; the police, Home Office (CAST), NCA, a forensic geologist and forensic archaeologists. Significant landmarks (such as huge boulders) were identified and marked, and logical challenges (such as dense vegetation) were noted. An assessment of the vegetation at the site was conducted by a forensic ecologist, and a forensic geologist provided an evaluation of the geology, geomorphology and hydrogeology. It was thought that this might identify changes to the natural balance of the flora that could be linked to the presence of the burial. However, primarily as a result of the period of time that had elapsed, together with the managed works (e.g. new footpaths) that had been carried out at the site, no such changes were identified. A desk study review was conducted of all available data, information and intelligence relating to the case. This included comparisons of past edition and most recent ordnance survey maps that were available from the years relating to the date the person was reported as missing. The collation of the various archives containing historical aerial imagery was conducted. A comparative analysis of aerial imagery of the location was carried out involving the use of historical images together with images obtained from a new capture. These two sets were analysed and common topographical features were identified. Where it was clear tha

Analysis of soil following a police-led open area search and the recovery of a cold-case homicide grave