The PRSAR forensics applied sciences & technology (fast) Team
The FAST Team
prsar.org/fastteam.html • Forensics Applied Science & Technology
Digging a hole is easy. Locating a clandestine grave is extremely difficult, especially one that is years or decades old — and locating the remains is often what makes a prosecution possible. Memories fade. The environment changes. Even when a suspect is taken back to the scene, the victim is frequently never found, or is later recovered nowhere near where the suspect indicated.
The methods used to find clandestine graves have historically been unreliable, inconsistent, and only applicable to small areas. Random digging is physically demanding, expensive, slow, and consumes manpower that law enforcement is better off spending on the living.
There is no single technology that works for every scenario. Each death scene is unique. What works varies with soil type, terrain, the size of the search area, the manner of death, the age of the scene, moisture, flora, fauna, and animal scavenging.
To locate human remains, you need an intimate working knowledge of the decomposition process — what organic and inorganic material breaks down into, and where those products go. FAST combines multiple technologies with a team drawn from biology, microbiology, chemistry, physics, geology, and botany, along with instrumentation, mapping, research design, and implementation.
Success is not guaranteed. We say that plainly because anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What a multi-disciplinary approach does is improve the odds, and the odds have never been better than they are now.
Technologies used in combination
These work together. None of them is sufficient alone, and any one of them used on its own will mislead you sooner or later.
Canines (grave detection dogs)
A properly trained grave-detection dog remains the most sensitive tool available and is usually the first to be deployed. PRSAR's land HRD program is built to ANSI/ASB Std 076-2026. A canine indication must be used in conjunction with confirmatory technologies — see our Cadaver Dogs page for what a canine result does and does not establish.
Soil chemistry
During decomposition, soft tissue and bone break down into chemical building blocks. These products soak into the matrix the body rests on — soil, clothing, and so on — and can be detected by chemical assay and instrumentation. Some are human-specific and can distinguish human from animal remains.
Soil microbiology
The microbial community around a decomposition event changes as nutrients are released into the soil. Culturing the soil flora or running PCR analysis can help confirm a suspected grave location.
Volatile organic compound analysis
Decomposition produces a complex and shifting profile of volatile organic compounds. Instrumental analysis can characterize what is present in soil, air, and on materials at a scene — the same chemistry a detection dog is responding to, measured directly.
Geophysical methods
Ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, soil resistivity, thermal imaging, and hyperspectral imaging identify disturbed soil and subsurface anomalies. These are confirmatory tools: they show you a disturbance, not a body, and interpretation is everything.
Forensic botany
Nutrients released during decomposition can support unusual or distinctive plant growth. Used in conjunction with soil chemistry, this can help narrow the search area.
Instrumentation
Gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer • hyperspectral imagery • thermal imagery • inductively coupled argon plasma spectroscopy • high performance liquid chromatography • ion chromatography • laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy • side scan and down imaging sonar for water searches
Case submission
For case submission and consideration, call 941-548-7560 or email us. We will need the case number, the lead agency (if available), and the detective in charge. All cases are reviewed by the PRSAR Board of Directors before any assets are deployed.
The scientists, field searchers, and volunteers of FAST are here to help find the people whose families are still waiting. We use science alongside tried-and-true methods, such as a good grave detection dog. It is what we do.
prsar.org/fastteam.html • Forensics Applied Science & Technology
Digging a hole is easy. Locating a clandestine grave is extremely difficult, especially one that is years or decades old — and locating the remains is often what makes a prosecution possible. Memories fade. The environment changes. Even when a suspect is taken back to the scene, the victim is frequently never found, or is later recovered nowhere near where the suspect indicated.
The methods used to find clandestine graves have historically been unreliable, inconsistent, and only applicable to small areas. Random digging is physically demanding, expensive, slow, and consumes manpower that law enforcement is better off spending on the living.
There is no single technology that works for every scenario. Each death scene is unique. What works varies with soil type, terrain, the size of the search area, the manner of death, the age of the scene, moisture, flora, fauna, and animal scavenging.
To locate human remains, you need an intimate working knowledge of the decomposition process — what organic and inorganic material breaks down into, and where those products go. FAST combines multiple technologies with a team drawn from biology, microbiology, chemistry, physics, geology, and botany, along with instrumentation, mapping, research design, and implementation.
Success is not guaranteed. We say that plainly because anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What a multi-disciplinary approach does is improve the odds, and the odds have never been better than they are now.
Technologies used in combination
These work together. None of them is sufficient alone, and any one of them used on its own will mislead you sooner or later.
Canines (grave detection dogs)
A properly trained grave-detection dog remains the most sensitive tool available and is usually the first to be deployed. PRSAR's land HRD program is built to ANSI/ASB Std 076-2026. A canine indication must be used in conjunction with confirmatory technologies — see our Cadaver Dogs page for what a canine result does and does not establish.
Soil chemistry
During decomposition, soft tissue and bone break down into chemical building blocks. These products soak into the matrix the body rests on — soil, clothing, and so on — and can be detected by chemical assay and instrumentation. Some are human-specific and can distinguish human from animal remains.
Soil microbiology
The microbial community around a decomposition event changes as nutrients are released into the soil. Culturing the soil flora or running PCR analysis can help confirm a suspected grave location.
Volatile organic compound analysis
Decomposition produces a complex and shifting profile of volatile organic compounds. Instrumental analysis can characterize what is present in soil, air, and on materials at a scene — the same chemistry a detection dog is responding to, measured directly.
Geophysical methods
Ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, soil resistivity, thermal imaging, and hyperspectral imaging identify disturbed soil and subsurface anomalies. These are confirmatory tools: they show you a disturbance, not a body, and interpretation is everything.
Forensic botany
Nutrients released during decomposition can support unusual or distinctive plant growth. Used in conjunction with soil chemistry, this can help narrow the search area.
Instrumentation
Gas chromatograph / mass spectrometer • hyperspectral imagery • thermal imagery • inductively coupled argon plasma spectroscopy • high performance liquid chromatography • ion chromatography • laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy • side scan and down imaging sonar for water searches
Case submission
For case submission and consideration, call 941-548-7560 or email us. We will need the case number, the lead agency (if available), and the detective in charge. All cases are reviewed by the PRSAR Board of Directors before any assets are deployed.
The scientists, field searchers, and volunteers of FAST are here to help find the people whose families are still waiting. We use science alongside tried-and-true methods, such as a good grave detection dog. It is what we do.
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