July 27th, 2010
Texas State to give fingerprinting instruction to FBI

STAFF REPORT

Forensic specialists from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will be at Texas State Wednesday to learn techniques for recovering fingerprints from human remains.

The training given by faculty in Texas State’s nationally recognized Forensic Anthropology Center will enable FBI Evidence Response Team (ERT) members to recover fingerprints from fresh skin, partially decomposed remains, dismembered remains and mummified tissue. The knowledge can be applied at the scenes of crimes, accidents, and natural disasters to establish positive identification of unknown individuals and to recover the fingerprints of perpetrators.

The trainees will work in a lab with human limbs as they learn to rehydrate tissue and chemically enhance it in search of forensic evidence.

The training will take place in the Grady Early Forensic Anthropology Laboratory on RR 12 in San Marcos.

ERTs located around the country ensure that evidence is collected in such a manner that it can be introduced in courts throughout the U.S. and the world.

The Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS) is one of a handful of forensic research centers in the U.S. FACTS works with law enforcement and medical examiners’ offices, conducts research on skeletal remains, and provides master’s degree training in forensic anthropology.