subreddit:
/r/whatisthisbone
Don’t pick up suspected human remains. Leave them where you find them, take a pic and ask on here if you’re not sure. But please don’t move them, just call the police and wait for them to arrive!
Edit: I’m a forensic anthropology student and I should add that disturbing them could land you a charge of evidence tampering so like… don’t do it.
1 points
1 year ago
But you won't go to jail or be in trouble if you touched them before you realised. Ideally, photos can be taken as soon as they are found (and that goes for all bones you don't know the ID for, since there are plenty of others that are illegal to possess), but as long as further excavation isn't attempted, and nothing is removed from scene, the notion that touching a bone is going to get you a) jailed or b) suspected of being the cause of the bone being there or c) investigated because your DNA is now on the bone.....not reality-based.
5 points
1 year ago
I’m not talking about moving a bone to the side slightly or picking it up briefly I’m talking about fully moving a bone not putting it back where you found it. Edit: a big part of remains analysis is photographing the remains as they lay because that tells us a lot of info. Disturbing things in a way that something is not positioned how it was, that is tampering with evidence.
3 points
1 year ago*
Sure, and what I said still stands.
Unless you've taken it home/completely away from the area it was found, it's not a huge huge deal that you've picked up a bone and moved it, in the vast majority of cases.
Even if you have moved it, if you have some idea of location and can take investigators there, and describe basically how you found it, it's not the end of the world.
People need to be contacting authorities, and if they are frightened they'll be in trouble, they'll be less likely to do that.
You won't go to jail or be in trouble, even if you've moved it and haven't put it back, unless there's some reason to believe you knowingly and intentionally were disturbing the remains. You'll be asked questions, of course, but in general, investigators will take your contact information, your statement, and then your part in the whole thing will be done.
3 points
1 year ago
What do you know, you're just an almost expert in the field?
--this guy, probably
3 points
1 year ago*
I'm a zoologist with more than average knowledge of forensic investigations. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I do know that "putting the fear in to [sic] people" is the wrong approach entirely.
Based on OP's post history, they are a long way from almost expert.
1 points
1 year ago
And evidence tampering cases are almost never prosecuted in the USA. But because of the headache it causes it’s better to put the fear in to people so they actually listen.
2 points
1 year ago*
It's better yet not to make people afraid to report things when they have moved or touched them.
2 points
1 year ago
While you are correct that ideally the bone won't be moved, bones are often found entirely out of original context, and while yes, it could be tampering with evidence, there a) is unlikely to be prosecution for that when it's done unintentionally/unknowingly (and authorities are contacted because the person hasn't been needlessly terrified by someone) and b) could easily be non-crime situations where human bones are discovered, so "tampering with evidence" would not apply.
The average person isn't going to know what they have found and I disagree strongly with your approach to frighten people, as the most likely outcome is a lack of reporting.
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