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Case Reports
. 2021 Aug 2;7(2):308-318.
doi: 10.1080/20961790.2021.1924425. eCollection 2022.

Identification of a female murder victim found in Burgenland, Austria in 1993

Christine Lehn  1 , Andreas Rossmann  2 , Matthias Graw  1 , Gareth R Davies  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Identification of a female murder victim found in Burgenland, Austria in 1993

Christine Lehn et al. Forensic Sci Res. .

Abstract

In 1993, the skeletal remains of a female corpse were found in Burgenland, Austria. Initial identification of the approximately 25-35-year-old female appeared impossible, but the case was reopened 23 years later. By applying biogeochemical isotope methods to her body tissues, the geographical origin of the unknown corpse could be predicted. The results of the C, N, S, H, Sr, and Pb isotope analyses suggested that the female did not originate from Europe and most likely spent her youth in the northern Caribbean. Using these findings, the police were able to identify the woman within 2 weeks. The female came from the Dominican Republic and resided in Austria for only a short period before she was murdered. This case shows that isotope biogeochemistry investigations can provide the police with crucial information that enables unknown persons to be identified.KeypointsC-N-S-H and Sr-Pb isotope analyses were applied to human remains associated with a cold case.It was possible to determine the region of origin of the unknown deceased individual as the northern Caribbean.After 23 years, the murder victim was successfully identified.

Keywords: Forensic sciences; bio-elements; forensic anthropology; geo-elements; human identification; provenance; stable isotope analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no financial interest or benefit to disclose related to the publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Global distribution of carbon isotope values in human hair samples of different geographical origin [29], reproduced with permission.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Global distribution of nitrogen isotope values in human hair samples of different geographical origin [29], reproduced with permission.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Global distribution of hydrogen isotope values in precipitation (Available at: https://wateriso.utah.edu/waterisotopes/media/IsoMaps/jpegs/h_Global/Hma_Global.jpg [Accessed 4 Jan 2021]) [36].
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Sr isotope data in human enamel and environmental samples presented in a standard Boxplot figure: median and quartiles. Red is the femur from the deceased female. Dark yellow is the field from environmental samples from Germany. X = average, horizontal line=median. Outliers are shown as circles. Blue is bioavailable Sr from the Netherlands tooth database ([37] plus unpublished data). Sr isotope ratios in the German environment are significantly more variable than in the Netherlands bioavailable database because of i) the more diverse geology that includes volcanic regions such as the Eifel and old basement such as the Harz Mountains (0.707–0.720) and ii) the homogenisation of the environmental signature by the human body.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
206Pb/207Pb vs. 208Pb/207Pb isotope ratios in the femur of an unknown female found in Burgenland and in tooth enamel samples from various countries in Europe, Asia and USA (see [10] and references therein). Note that USA samples have relatively high 206Pb/207Pb ratio at a given 208Pb/207Pb. The large purple-pink circle is sample of the deceased. Most available environmental Pb isotope data do not include 204Pb. The 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb figure is therefore used. Note that the error bars are smaller than the size of the symbols. The isotopic range of the limited Pb isotope data of German tooth enamel (n = 6) and hair samples (n = 13) from our unpublished data lie on the main data array with 206Pb/207Pb between 1.147 and 1.172. Additional US Pb isotope data from Air Force cadets can be found in Regan et al. [39].
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References

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