How do bodies decompose? Cape Town forensic scientists are pushing frontiers of new detection methods

By Victoria Gibbon, Professor in Biological Anthropology, Division of Clinical Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, University of Cape Town
Devin Alexander Finaughty, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand
Kara Adams, Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Cape Town

Cape Town has consistently been one of the metropolitan regions in South Africa with the highest murder rates. It has more than double the national average, and is currently ranked second overall and 16th worldwide. Many victims are discovered only after their bodies have decomposed, burned, or been exposed to the elements. That makes identification difficult and delays justice.

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