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EXHUMATIONS

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  176

2026-07-13

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EXHUMATIONS

Humans have always had particular practices for dealing with the dead. Rituals, ceremonies, and wakes are all a part of how society acknowledges a person’s passing life. One of the most common funereal practices in the United States is the embalming and burial of the dead. If questions about cause or manner of death arise once the deceased is buried, he or she must be dug up or removed from his or her mausoleum; this process is called an exhumation. The changes wrought by death, time, and embalming practices can obliterate or obscure details that otherwise might be easily examined. Embalming is a process of chemically treating the dead human body to reduce the presence and growth of microorganisms, to retard organic decomposition, and to restore an acceptable physical appearance. Formaldehyde or formalin is the main chemical used to preserve the body. These chemicals are highly reactive and can alter or mask drugs or poisons in the body at the time of death. Toxicologists Tim Tracy of the University of Minnesota and Pete Gannett at West Virginia University have developed special methods to analyze embalmed tissues for drugs, poisons, and medications. These methods have been successfully applied in casework; more methods for other drugs of abuse in embalmed tissues are being researched.