The use of thermal imaging in locating missing/deceased people
I recently completed a research project with Nuffield research placements in partnership with Keele University to research how thermal imaging technology can be used for the searching of bodies.
Thermal imaging is used by forensic search investigators to locate missing people, but there is little evidence-based research on its effectiveness to detect individuals after death. This is because bodies tend to heat up and cool down at different times in comparison to the environment it is in. Therefore, Police use thermal imaging technologies to locate the whereabouts of missing persons or corpses. The project is partook in will allow them to identify and explore the variables affecting thermal visibility, to aid their search.This project aimed to: [1] Find out if thermal imaging surveys work to detect bodies after death,[2] Investigate what is the best time in the day to do a thermal imaging survey and [3] Find out the differences between aquatic and terrestrial development, which situation provides the best results and why.
Method
In both experiments (land and water), a pig cadaver was placed in either environments and everyday thermal images were taken of said cadaver including the environments around it. For the water experiment it was done up until 18 PMI (excluding weekends where no…
