Child abduction: an overview of current and historical perspectives.

This article summarizes research findings in the area of child abduction. Topics addressed include incidence rates and operational definitions of child abduction (legal and social), victim and offender characteristics, and motivation (e.g., maternal desire, sex, retribution, profit, and desire to kill). Risk factors for child abduction are discussed including offender reports of victim selection methodology. Practical application of research findings are considered including the development of more scientifically sound, effective child safety training programs and improved investigative resource management and search methodologies.

Child abduction: aged-based analyses of offender, victim, and offense characteristics in 550 cases of alleged child disappearance.

Crimes against children, particularly cases involving abduction and/or homicide, continue to be problematic as both a social phenomenon and judicial responsibility. Such cases routinely receive immense community and media attention and rapidly overwhelm investigative resources. Research in the area of childhood victimization, however, has only recently gained national prominence. While numerous studies on child abuse and neglect have been conducted, research on child abduction and homicide remains scant. Previous studies examining child abduction suffer from limited geographical scope or fail to base predictive analyses on victim characteristics. The current study reports the results of a nationally representative sample (47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico) of 550 cases of alleged child abduction obtained from Federal Bureau of Investigation files for the period 1985 through 1995. Study results demonstrate that both offender and offense characteristics vary significantly according to victim age, gender, and race. Such differences appear critical to crime reconstruction, criminal profiling, and investigative resolution. Additionally, these data suggest that current child abduction prevention programs may emphasize inaccurate offender traits.

Isolation, amplification, and sequencing of human mitochondrial DNA obtained from human crab louse, Pthirus pubis (L.), blood meals.

The ability to identify individual human hosts based on analyses of blood recovered from the digestive tract of hematophagous arthropods has been a long-term pursuit in both medical and forensic entomology. Blood meal individualization techniques can bring important advancements to studies of vector-borne disease epidemiology. Forensically, these analyses may aid in assailant identification in violent crime cases where blood-feeding insects or their excreta are recovered from victims or at crime scenes. Successful isolation, amplification, and sequencing of human mitochondrial DNA obtained from adult human crab lice fed on human volunteers are reported. Adult lice were removed from recruited volunteers frequenting inner city health clinics. Live lice were killed by freezing and subsequently air dried at ambient temperature. A saliva sample was obtained from each volunteer and served as a DNA reference sample. Volunteers were afforded free, approved pediculosis treatment. Individual lice were subsequently processed using procedures developed for the extraction of mitochondrial DNA from human hair, teeth, and bone. The resulting DNA was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. Our results point to valuable avenues for future entomological research.

Effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in decomposing tissues on the development of Parasarcophaga ruficornis (Diptera:Sarcophagidae) and detection of the drug in postmortem blood, liver tissue, larvae, and puparia.

Larvae of Parasarcophaga ruficornis (Fabricius) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) were reared on tissues from rabbits administered different dosages of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine to study the effects of this drug on the development of this insect species. The rabbits were given 11, 22.5, and 67 mg of the drug via ear vein infusion. These dosages correspond to a 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 median lethal dose. Larvae from colonies fed on tissues from the rabbit receiving 67 mg and the control developed more rapidly from hours 24 through 114. The period required for completion of larval development was significantly shorter for the larvae from the colony fed on liver tissues from the rabbit receiving the 67 mg dosage. This colony also had the lowest total mortality rate during development. No significant differences were observed among the colonies in the duration of the puparial period. Analyses by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry of the larvae and empty puparial cases following base extraction detected the drug in quantities directly related to the dosage of the drug administered to the rabbits serving as a food source. These results have implications for the determination of time since death when gauged by the development of this insect species.

Identification of host DNA by amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis: preliminary analysis of human crab louse (Anoplura: Pediculidae) excreta.

The ability to identify individual hosts of hematophagous arthropods via bloodmeal analyses is a continuing pursuit in both medical and forensic entomology. Characterization of human DNA from blood-feeding arthropods has been advanced substantially by preparation techniques, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Successful application of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AMP-FLP) analysis to excreta obtained from adult crab lice, Pthirus pubis (L.), fed on human volunteers is reported herein. Human DNA derived from crab louse excreta was typed successfully for two human DNA genetic markers, D1S80 and HUMTH01. Although preliminary, these results illustrate the ability of AMP-FLP analyses to provide individual human locus characterizations from desiccated arthropod excrement.

Entomotoxicology. A new area for forensic investigation.

Insects and other arthropods can be valuable tools in death investigations. In addition to their use in the estimation of postmortem intervals, insects may serve as reliable alternate specimens for toxicological analyses in the absence of tissues and fluids normally taken for such purposes. Recent research has also demonstrated that the presence of drugs and/or toxins in decomposing tissues may alter the rate and patterns of development in arthropods using such tissues as food, thus potentially altering estimates of the postmortem interval. Current advances in the use of arthropods as alternate toxicological specimens and the effects of various drugs and toxins on arthropod development are reviewed here.

The black soldier fly Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) as a potential measure of human postmortem interval: observations and case histories.

The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.), has been shown to be a ubiquitous inhabitant of both surface and buried human remains throughout the southern, central and western United States and Hawaii. Unlike most other species of forensically important Diptera, this species frequently dominates bodies in the dry/post decay stage of decomposition. Adults of the black soldier fly appear to initiate oviposition (egg laying) 20 to 30 days postmortem. Even at warm temperatures (27.8 degrees C), subsequent completion of the life cycle can require an additional 55 days. Life history data for H. illucens, when used in combination with data for other cohabiting arthropod species and viewed in the context of local environmental conditions, can provide medicolegal investigators with valuable parameters for estimating the postmortem intervals for badly decomposed remains.

Insect larvae used to detect cocaine poisoning in a decomposed body.

Insect larvae are often found on human remains long after disappearance of the usual toxicologic specimens. It is important for forensic pathologists and toxicologists to recognize the potential of this unique specimen when routine specimens are not available. Cocaine and benzoylecgonine was extracted from Calliphorid larvae found on a badly decomposed body of a man who had been missing 5 months and was also identified in the decomposing skeletal muscle. This toxicologic information combined with the autopsy findings and the circumstances of the death and disappearance was essential in the determination of cocaine poisoning as the cause of death.

Propofol for repeated burns dressings in a child: a case report.

The use of propofol for repeated burns dressings in a severely psychologically disturbed child is described. The benefits of using this method rather than the traditionally used ketamine are discussed. The lack of adverse side-effects and rapid restarting of feeding were found to be advantageous.

Pethidine, metoclopramide and the gastro-oesophageal sphincter. A study in healthy volunteers.

The effects of intramuscular pethidine (1.0--3.0 mg/kg) followed by metoclopramide 10 mg intravenously, and those of a combination of pethidine 1.5 mg/kg and metoclopramide 10 mg given intramuscularly, on the lower oesophageal sphinct pressure have been studied manometrically in human volunteers. In the former group, the mean effect of all the doses of pethidine was a reduction of the lower oesophageal barrier pressure by 6.8 cmH2O from control values (p less than 0.0002), while the intravenous administration of metoclopramide resulted in a mean increase in barrier pressure of 8.75 cmH2O above the depressed level (p less than 0.0001). Following the combination of pethidine and metoclopramide given intramuscularly depression of the sphincter pressure was not totally prevented, but there was a reduction in its incidence and severity. It is suggested that pethidine is likely to increase the possibility of gastro-oesophageal reflux, and that metoclopramide is a useful adjunct in the prevention of reflux in preparation for, and after, surgery in patients who have been given pethidine for pain relief.