® Crime Scene Products CLICK HERE FOR THE EVIDENT HOMEPAGE www.EvidentCrimeScene.com

The Identification of Francis Joseph van Zandt The Oldest Known Postmortem Fingerprint Identification

On July 24th, 2007, while attending the IAI conference in San Diego, CA, Judy Grimm, Michael Grimm Sr. and Michael Grimm Jr. introduced I.D. Enhancer Solution to Ted Robinson from George Washington University. While at the EVIDENT vendor booth, Mike Jr. explained to Ted the properties of the solution and the benefits that were seen when using the solution to rehydrate postmortem desiccated fingerprint ridge detail.
Ted explained that he was currently working with Odile Loreille from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) in Rockville, MD in an attempt to identify mummified remains from a 1948 plane crash in Alaska. The remains consisted of an adult male's left arm and hand. The arm had remained frozen with the wreckage of the aircraft atop a remote glacier in Alaska until its discovery in 1999 by private pilots Kevin McGregor and Marc Millican. EVIDENT provided a complete I.D. Enhancer Postmortem Kit to Ted Robinson to assist in his efforts to recover fingerprint detail from the mummified remains at AFDIL.
The condition of the hand did not indicate that any identifiable fingerprints could be recovered. An attempt to identify the arm with fingerprints in 1999 failed. When Ted Robinson began his fingerprint efforts, attempts by AFDIL at a DNA identification were ongoing. The hand was completely desiccated and appeared to have no identifiable ridge detail. Robionson's intention was to rehydrate the tissue and attempt to recover any viable ridge detail.
Using the I.D. Enhancer Postmortem Kit provided by EVIDENT, Ted Robinson began his rehydration efforts. Small sponge-filled vials were used to apply the heated solution. Amazingly, the ridge detail of the 59 year old hand began to appear after soaking in the solution. Each finger was monitored until it reached the desired rehydration level.	Above image courtesy of Ted Robinson
After rehydration, a series of silicone casts were made of each finger by Ted Robinson. These postmortem reproductions recorded a tremendous amount of detail. The successful rehydration combined with the reproductive abilities of the silicone provided ideal results.
Upon completion of the postmortem silicone reproductions, Ted Robinson contacted EVIDENT, Inc. Michael Grimm Sr., vice president at EVIDENT, is also a certified latent fingerprint examiner with over 40 years of experience. Ted, Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. all met at an IHOP in Charlottesville, VA on August 23rd, 2007. Ted provided the silicone reproductions and a series of known fingerprint records from 18 of the 30 plane crash victims. Mike Sr. assumed that the identification would take a short amount of time. The quality of the silicone reproductions from Ted Robinson were nearly perfect, but the known inked fingerprint records were of poor quality.
Michael Grimm Jr. began efforts to digitally enhance the silicone reproductions in an attempt to reveal additional ridge detail which could be compared to viable areas of the known fingerprint records. Using a flatbed scanner, each finger cast was individually scanned into Adobe Photoshop. Mike Jr. performed a series of basic enhancement techniques to provide a much clearer postmortem fingerprint. A majority of the victims had been excluded through either pattern type discrepancies or DNA exclusions, with four possible victims remaining.	SIlicone Casts Before and After Digital Enhancements
These newly enhanced postmortem fingerprints prompted a visit to the National Maritime Center in Arlington, VA for comparison with the original fingerprint records of the remaining four victims. Additional fingerprints were discovered upon inspection of one of the files. Upon examination, Michael Grimm Sr. was able to make a positive identification between the left thumb postmortem reproduction and the left thumb print of Francis Joseph van Zandt.
The identification of Francis Joseph van Zandt by Michael Grimm Sr. is the world's oldest known postmortem fingerprint identification on record.

EVIDENT HOMEPAGE

ORDERING & SHIPPING INFORMATION
PRINTABLE PDF ORDER FORM

®
Crime Scene Products
739 Brooks Mill Road
Union Hall, VA 24176
Phone 1-800-576-7606
Phone 540-576-3512
FAX 1-888-384-3368
FAX 540-576-3942
email contact@evident.cc

EVIDENT Crime Scene Products
© 2012 EVIDENT, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED