This paper examines the unique forensic challenges posed by crime scenes located near or within bodies of water. It discusses the difficulties of safely retrieving a submerged body without compromising evidence, the specialized diving skills required to investigate underwater settings, and the physical hazards investigators face in precarious natural environments. The paper also addresses the medical indicators of drowning, the complications of establishing drowning as a cause of death versus other forms of homicide, and how prolonged water exposure degrades physical evidence such as bruising and wounds. Together, these issues highlight why aquatic crime scenes demand highly specialized forensic procedures and personnel.
Retrieving a body from the water so that it can be analyzed appropriately is a considerable forensic challenge. In most crime scenes, everything is supposed to remain "as is" until forensic personnel have completed their investigation. However, a crime scene located near a body of moving water typically means that the body must be retrieved as quickly as possible to prevent further damage to the evidence. "Nobody is supposed to move the body (other than look for ID and some superficial moving) until the coroner's investigator gets there" (Pileggi, n.d., Crime scene). The body's removal from the water must therefore be expedited without disturbing any vital clues.
In most terrestrial crime scene settings, "sometimes the position gives investigators a clue as to the cause and method of death. Also, they need to see if the lividity — where the blood has settled in the body, always going to the lowest point, beginning about six hours after death, and presenting as a pinkish, purplish color — matches the position of the body" (Pileggi, n.d.). In an aquatic setting, however, the body has already been disturbed by the movement of the water, making these standard observations far more difficult to apply reliably.
"Forensic handling of submerged bodies calls for special teams who not only have specific diving skills but knowledge of how to carefully collect evidence underwater, handle a water-logged body, and preserve a crime scene" (Ramsland, 2012, p. 1). The location of a body near a ravine makes it particularly difficult for crime scene personnel to maneuver safely. In any crime scene located near a body of water, both the surface (land) area and the submerged (water) area must be investigated (Ramsland, 2012, p. 3).
When a body is located in water surrounded by rocks and dense brush that are difficult to scale, the considerable natural matter around the body makes it challenging to establish a clean crime scene perimeter and to prevent valuable evidence from being tainted by surrounding debris. Although specially trained divers are required to investigate the submerged area, under most circumstances "investigators should look for the point of entry into the water, searching for potential evidence such as clothing, footprints, or indications of a struggle" (Ramsland, 2012, p. 3). The precarious nature of an aquatic crime scene makes finding such indications — without endangering on-shore personnel — particularly challenging.
"Decompression and barotrauma risks for forensic divers"
"Medical indicators used to confirm drowning as cause"
"How water exposure obscures evidence of assault"
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