Body Farms: A Case Study

Body farms were founded in the seventies by a man named William M. Bass. In the body farms they do research with cadavers that were either donated or bodies of immigrant workers who are unclaimed. In the body farm researchers try to understand the rate of decomposition. This is studied in many different settings, such as moist environments, buried under cars, in water, etc. The scientist try to determine the rate at which mold grows, time when maggots start eating the cadaver, as well as studying eggs laid by flies. All of this information is useful as it helps scientist pin point the time of death. During investigation, metal detectors are used to find bullets in the ground in case the victim was shot. By looking at the bones of the cadaver, scientist can also tell if death was violent or natural.
There was a case presented in the video of a girl named Vicky who was found dead by a cliff.
Vicky’s family believed someone was after Vicky and killed her. Her bones were taken to the body farm and they found fractures on her pelvis, sacrum, scapula, and teeth. This therefore was an indicating factor that she was not killed but rather, committed suicide. There was a second case in which Matt Rogers killed his wife and burned her. Investigators were looking for her and body farm scientist were called to investigate burnt bone of what Matt said were goat bone. Body farm found that the bones were actually those of Matt’s missing wife. In the final case, a woman shot her husband and buried him under their house. The husbands parents were suspicious of the wife and searched the home and found buried bone. Body farms then investigated the soil and the bone, which later gave them evidence that the body was indeed of Lily, May’s
husband.