Short of that, we're developing a model that would allow forensic scientists to insert data into a chart or computer program to determine how long a person has been dead. But it becomes more complicated if a body is found several days later. And in warm climates or during the summer, a body can be reduced to bones in just 30 days, Vass said. To develop one of their models, Vass is focusing on tissue analysis and hoping to determine which organ provides the best indication of how long a person has been dead.
Lungs are the first to decay.
As a body decomposes, proteins break down into amino acids and progressively smaller molecules. By studying whether there is a constant rate at which the large molecules of the body break down, Vass believes he can develop a computer program that correlates the percentage of larger molecules to small ones with a number of days. As part of the project, Vass and UT graduate students Jennifer Love and Jennifer Synstelien take daily tissue samples from cadavers at the Anthropological Research Facility in Knoxville. The internationally known facility contains anywhere from 10 to 24 bodies at any one time that have been donated to the program in the hopes of helping science and law enforcement. Our research can help answer the where and when, and that should help law enforcement officials solve crimes.