Multimedia Listing

In the final episode of our 2022 Case Studies: Part 2 mini season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Thomas Gilson, Dr. Harmeet Kaur, and Hristina Lekova with the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office to discuss a puzzling case in which the identity of a decedent from 2014 still remains unknown. Since 2011, it has been uncommon for the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office to have a case in which a decedent remains unidentified for an extended period of time.

In episode two of our Case Studies Part 2: mini season Just Science sat down with Jason Moran, commander of police at the Cook County Sheriff's Office, to discuss how he and his colleagues set out to identify the remaining victims of John Wayne Gacy, decades after their bodies were found. Technological limitations can sometimes make it very challenging to identify decomposed human remains. In the case of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, eight of his 33 victims remained unidentified for more than 30 years.

In episode two of our Case Studies Part 2: mini season Just Science sat down with Jason Moran, commander of police at the Cook County Sheriff's Office, to discuss how he and his colleagues set out to identify the remaining victims of John Wayne Gacy, decades after their bodies were found. Technological limitations can sometimes make it very challenging to identify decomposed human remains. In the case of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, eight of his 33 victims remained unidentified for more than 30 years.

In episode one of our Case Studies: Part 2 mini season, Just Science sat down with Kelly Ayers, an International Association for Identification Certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst, to discuss how preliminary autopsy results can help investigators piece together a story of what happened at a crime scene. For crime scene investigators, preliminary autopsy results issued by forensic pathologist and medical examiners can be used in conjunction with other disciplines, such as bloodstain pattern analysis, to provide pivotal information about a case.

Social media has become a potent tool for spreading extremist beliefs and promoting violent extremism. NIJ Social Science analyst Aisha Javed Qureshi joins writer-editor Paul Haskins for a conversation about how scientific research is helping law enforcement and other agencies understand and address this growing concern.

In episode four of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification Season, Just Science sat down with Katharine Pope, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, Dr. Bruce Anderson, a forensic anthropologist with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, and Joe Mullins, an instructor at the New York Academy of Art, to discuss human identification using forensic anthropology and facial approximations.

In episode two of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification Season, Just Science sat down with Bryan Johnson, the Major Incident Program Manager in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Latent Print Unit, to discuss how postmortem prints can be used to help identify unknown decedents. One of the cheapest, easiest and fastest methods of identifying individuals is through friction ridge prints. However, challenges can arise in cases where trauma or decomposition affect quality of a decedent's hands.

In episode three of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Lori Bruski and Amy Jenkinson, two research public health analysts at RTI International to discuss inter-agency efforts to compile crime, missing persons and decedent information and comprehensive databases. In the digital age, criminal justice information can be uploaded into databases and organized in a searchable, centralized location, making it more accessible than ever.

In episode one of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Heather McKiernan, a Research Forensic Scientist at RTI International, and Ashley Rodriguez, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, to discuss the use of forensic genetic genealogy in identifying human remains. Oftentimes unknown human remains are recovered fully or partially skeletonized, with no close biological relatives in CODIS to facilitate identification.

In episode four of our Case Studies: Part 1 mini season, Just Science sat down with Leighton D'Antoni, the Assistant District Attorney in Dallas County, Texas, to discuss how forensic genetic genealogy was used as an investigative tool to help solve a series of violent cold cases. In the 1980s, several violent sexual assaults occurred in Dallas County, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana. These cases were all linked by a foreign DNA profile; however, no suspect was found and the cases went cold.

Gun violence may be the most discussed topic surrounding school safety, but it is by no means the only one. Bullying, school climate, and mental health affect students across the country, and are some of the many other issues that NIJ researches. Mary Poulin Carlton, an NIJ social science analyst, joins host Paul Haskins to discuss these and other important school safety issues.

Reading and Resources from the National Institute of Justice:

In episode three of our Case Studies Part one mini season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Sharon Moses, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University, to discuss forensic archeology and locating victims of no-body homicides. Forensic archeologists can play a critical role in body recovery and search strategies for locating human remains because homicide offender’s choices and body disposal sites are influenced by various social and environmental factors.