| Author | Message | ||
     Lynn Zarda (Lynn) Member Username: Lynn Post Number: 1 Registered: 01-2008 |
I live in Grain Valley, Missouri a small town 20 minutes down the highway from Kansas City, Missouri. My son died in New Zealand on Nov. 25th 2005. No one could go to identify body because my ex had him cremated to soon by phone in New Zealand. He was identified only by a recent tattoo he had that was on the internet. Many others have same exact one. They took fingerprints - I took them to the G.V. police who said they had a detective that was an expert in fingerprints.The finger prints that I received from NZ police compared to prints here taken of my son, were examined, I was present. From greetings and goodbyes and the examination of the prints I was out the door in 10 minutes. He said 7 lines in the middle of one finger - (that look just like mine.) No special curves or anything. He said that it was my son. I did not get this until one year after he was dead from New Zealand. Yesterday I received more information, including some death scene photo's and autopsy report. In autopsy - his unbroken - no injured right hand and left for that matter had no huge scar. In the photos - His unbroken, non bloody right hand and left hand positively have NO scar. Son had hand caught in Freight elevator and was trapped for hours before help arrived. He had surgery to save his hand. Great success - except for huge scar on both outside hand and inside hand. Huge. Pictures are clear - no scar. My 27 year old son told us he was going to disappear for 10 years for some personal reasons prior to this. I am a Mom who is grieving for my son and have accepted his death. Now I do not believe the so called fingerprint expert that 7 lines is a positive ID. Can you tell me if 7 lines on one finger in less than 10 minutes can be a positive ID? This has nothing to do with court or law. Just pure heart and soul of Josh's Mom, myself. Please contact me at Lynn.Zarda@gmail.com Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time. Lynn - Josh's Mom | ||
| Webservant (Member) Moderator Username: Member Post Number: 253 Registered: 03-1997 |
Ten minutes is plenty of time for an expert to complete an identification or elimination between two legible fingerprint cards (two sets of legible sets of ten fingerprints). Identifications are not based on pattern configurations (see level 1, 2 and 3 here). The terminology used by the Grain Valley police employee is unusual ("lines"), but he may have been choosing layperson words to explain the identification to a non-expert. To satisfy your doubts, I would recommend contacting the Police Chief and requesting that his department submit the questioned (deceased) and known fingerprints to their supporting forensic laboratory for confirmation of the Grain Valley expert's opinion. Explain that as a concerned Mother, you researched fingerprints on the web and determined that there are no Certified Latent Print Examiners registered with Grain Valley as their address. This all said, there is so much information present in two fingerprint cards that even with minimal training, the Grain Valley Police expert would probably have noticed important differences to raise a red flag that it was not an identification. It does not take a Certified Latent Print Examiner (CLPE) to make expert comparisons between two legible fingerprint cards, but CLPEs have completed testing and demonstrated competence that meets high standards for expertise. Bottom line: You should expect that the Grain Valley police expert is probably correct, but if it were my son involved, I would request the Police Chief's assistance in having the comparison confirmed at their supporting forensic laboratory. It will probably be a very simple case for the laboratory to complete. |
