Duct tape is notoriously good at holding on to fingerprints, and the tear pattern of a piece of tape can be compared to the tear pattern on a potential source of the tape, Mang said. A ransom note found in the Ramsey's Boulder home, pens collected from the home and handwriting samples collected from parents John and Patsy Ramsey. Forensic researchers can compare the chemical composition of ink used to write the ransom note and the ink of various pens collected as evidence, Mang said. More than a dozen pens have been collected from the Ramsey's home. Ink analysis can demonstrate whether a particular pen may have been used to write a note, but not definitively if that pen was the one used, Mang said.
Researchers examine shoe prints of footprints for a number of characteristics.
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