The post-mortem examination
of drowning, is one of the most difficult problems in forensic.
Although there are
some typical signs of drowning known, its still difficult to determine
a death by drowning.
The real hard cases are the deceased body's where the post-mortem
signs are very difficult or impossible to determine. Worst case,
is a skeleton found close to, or into a liquid medium (e.g. water).
If a body is found in water
is does not necessarily mean, that this person has drowned. Therefore
one have to come up with this questions:
- drowned the person by conscious (e.g.
- drowned by unconsciousness (e.g. beaten,
- sudden death (e.g. heart stroke)
- already dead (e.g. get rid of a body)
If this questions are answered, the forensic
pathologist can easier determine if this case is a:
- natural death in the water
- a suicide
- a homicide
How can you answer this questions?
If the body is fresh the examiner can find clues that helps him
/ her to determine a death by drowning. The more deceased the body
is, the more it is difficult to find / see those signs of drowning.
At this point the examiner should think about the possibilities
of the diatoms!