Historic cases very complex to piece together, forensics remain key tool

Wijayakoon said he remembers having cases with 50 or 60 boxes of files to re-read and analyze at times. One of BC’s top cops said it is even more challenging during these times with social media spreading rumours and often false information to get the correct info.

Forensics has played a key part in getting the case to this point and continues to be a crucial part of most major crime investigations in BC.

With remains now identified, investigators can begin to assemble the pieces. Police are still looking for further information from the public now with this discovery made public. If you have any tips you can contact your local police.

Experts weigh in:

Human remains are a major milestone for many cases and can answer a fair share of questions for investigators.

Dr. Joel Cahn, Assistant Professor in the Forensic Science department at Trent University in Ontario said human remains can often aid in an investigation but there needs to be other details as well.

“There’s a lot that you can learn from human remains, but there are also limitations because first and foremost, anything can happen to the bones with the remains that you find,” said Cahn who cited erosion, sun damage, decomposition, and more natural factors. “We can learn about who this person was, do estimations of their age and geographical ancestry, stature and sex.”

Cahn said human remains will often lead investigators to learn what may have happened to the victims around the time of death, what has happened to the remains since, and what happened to an individual during their life. The longtime forensic expert mentioned trauma being able to be identified during the discovery of remains depending on what extent it was done, and the status of those remains.

Cahn has worked on investigations in Ontario over the course of his career aiding investigators to determine the previous.

Dr. Rob Gordon, Professor of Criminology at Simon Fraser University weighed in on the details of the case more specifically adding the discovery of Madison’s remains, and being able to positively identify being a major step in this case.

“I’d be surprised if, especially in light of the recovery of the remains, they weren’t able to begin to pinpoint a suspect. Presumably, it’s not a huge community and a lot of people would know the individuals involved, and especially people who have been there,” said Gordon. “We just sit now and watch, which is torturous for the family and I’m very sorry for their position, but there is nothing more that can be done at this point. If this investigation comes to a conclusion, it’s successful and they’ve got themselves burns elsewhere. They’re going to want to prosecute that person. So they’re exercising extreme care, not only in trying to recover useful evidence but also in trying to preserve that evidence so it’s usable in court.”

Gordon noted often the place of discovery can yield a lot of answers in itself, the longtime expert pointed out often those who dumped the body knew where they were going, what they were doing, and they scouted it out long before. Gordon said it is extremely uncommon for a body to randomly be dumped in a location.

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Twitter: @CadenFanshaw

Email: Caden.Fanshaw@pattisonmedia.com

by Caden Fanshaw

Historic cases very complex to piece together, forensics remain key tool

Experts weigh in:

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