Reconstructing the Memory of the Wounded Social Body: A Philosophical-Theological Reflection from the Search for Missing Persons in Mexico

This essay analyzes the phenomenon of clandestine graves of missing persons in Mexico as a social, political, and philosophical problem, where theological clues are established. With the contributions of decolonial thought this reflection seeks to think the absence and, within it, to think the emergence of an alternative world promoted by the just people of history with the resistances they create to live the present with dignity and hope.

More than an offender location tool: Geographic profiling and body deposition

In homicide cases, it is difficult to provide resolution for the bereaved or to obtain a successful criminal conviction of the guilty party when no body is found. Since the mid-nineteenth century, geographic and environmental patterns have been used to better understand the relationship between crime and its environment. Now known as geographic profiling, practitioners in this field amalgamate criminological, psychological, and geographical knowledge, as well as aspects of mathematics, statistics, and physics to identify spatial patterns associated with criminal behaviour as a means of locating anchor points of an offender (where they live, or work). The same techniques can also be used to locate the covert body deposition sites of their victims. This paper aims to (1) provide a brief summary of criminal behaviour and the environment and how understanding their relationship can be helpful to geographic profiling, (2) amalgamate the available literature on the application of geographic profiling in locating clandestine graves (as most documented uses are to locate offender residences), and (3) include a geographic profile of Ivan Milat, an Australian serial killer (officially) active from 1989 to 1992, demonstrating how geographic profiling techniques can help to identify additional victims and potential body deposition sites. The information in this review will be helpful to law enforcement and practitioners to improve missing persons investigations and searches for clandestine graves.

Dowsing for Bone

Locating clandestine graves is often a significant challenge for law enforcement and other investigators. A number of search techniques can be employed including visual assessments, canines, geophysical techniques, and imaging, often depending on the location/terrain, case information, and available resources. Dowsing is believed by some to be a reliable method for locating underground items of interest including water, oil, ore, and even graves; others, however, consider the practice to be controversial or even pseudoscience. Here we assess the ability of dowsing rods (wielded by previously inexperienced dowsers) to locate buried bones using a controlled blind test. Assemblages of bones were buried in three of nine holes. A control group of participants was asked to identify which holes they believed to contain bones by visual inspection, and a test group was asked to identify which holes they believed to contain bones using dowsing rods. Results indicate that neither method had a significant relationship with the true location of the bones (Matthew’s Correlation Coefficient –0.19 for the control group and 0.00 for the test group), and that there was no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.36). In this study, dowsing was not found to be a reliable method of detecting buried bones. Some practitioners continue to advocate dowsing or other scientifically questionable search methods, even charging investigators or families substantial fees for these services. It is therefore important that such techniques are well-understood and rigorously tested, and that investigators seek and employ methods that are appropriate and valid.

Use of GIS in Forensic Archaeology to Search Clandestine Graves in Uruguay

In the context of the search of detainee disappeared from the dictatorship occurred in Uruguay, forensic archaeology uses GIS as an auxiliary tool which allows to create, edit, visualize, store, analyse and publish geospatial data and information related to the investigation process. The tools of GIS are described in this article to show the results and information obtained which are going to be useful in the analytic processes leading to the design of new search strategies and archaeological intervention according to the available resources for this context. Two case studies are presented with the purpose to show the use of QGIS as a result of the three main areas of work: preliminary, fieldwork and laboratory. QGIS is presented as one of the most versatile, dynamic and accessible tool to investigate the search of detainee disappeared in Uruguay.

Desapariciones forzadas y hallazgo de fosas clandestinas en México: el caso del Colectivo Madres Buscadoras de Sonora [Forced disappearances and the discovery of clandestine graves in Mexico: the case of the Madres Buscadoras de Sonora Collective]

Las desapariciones forzadas son una manifestación de la violencia exacerbada que impera en México, así como de la impronta necropolítica agudizada bajo el capitalismo en su fase neoliberal. El rastreo de fosas clandestinas se ha convertido en una labor cotidiana de las madres que buscan a sus hijos. Frente a la inaten-ción y negligencia del Estado, la prevalencia de la impunidad y la ineficacia de los mecanismos de impartición de justicia, las mujeres se han enfrentado a la necesidad de crear y autogestionar redes de búsqueda con la in-tención de encontrar a sus familiares. El presente artículo pretende examinar el caso del Colectivo de Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, con el objetivo de dar cuenta de los procesos de resistencia emprendidos por este grupo de mujeres a través de esquemas autoorganizativos y colectivos que reivindican nuevas prefiguracio-nes de “lo político” y se escinden de la política en su forma hegemónica e institucional. Para ello, se presenta una investigación cualitativa fundamentada en el análisis de información recabada de artículos periodísticos y redes sociales. En un segundo momento, se genera una reflexión teórica sobre el panorama social y político en el que se posiciona el colectivo, con el propósito de analizar la problemática de la violencia estructural y su dimensión expresiva.

The Living Disappeared

This chapter tells the story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, or Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and their search for more than 500 grandchildren who were kidnapped by the Argentine military or born in captivity during military rule from 1976 to 1983. Most of the parents of these children were executed and buried in clandestine graves, while their children were given to childless military and civilian couples. Hope turned the Abuelas into detectives. Over many years, they examined thousands of pages of public documents, conducted stakeouts, and went undercover in their search for clues to the whereabouts of their missing grandchildren. But sleuthing was easy compared to convincing courts that the children they had located were biologically related to the grandparents who claimed them. In spring 1984, several foreign geneticists came to the aid of the Abuelas. Six months later, the first grandchild was identified on the basis of genetic analysis and returned to her grandmother. DNA sequencing soon followed, and in 1987, the Argentine Congress passed a law establishing the Banco Nacional de Datos Genéticos (National Genetic Data Bank), dedicated exclusively to identifying Argentina’s missing children. To date, 127 stolen children have been identified, most of them based on DNA analysis. While tracing this history, the chapter explores the scientific, legal, and psychosocial challenges that have arisen during the Abuelas’ search for their missing grandchildren.

Potential distribution of clandestine graves in Guerrero using geospatial analysis and modelling

Searching clandestine graves is a huge task being conducted by many people around the world. In Mexico, this activity has steadily grown since the disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Gro. leading to the discovery of over a hundred of clandestine graves in the vicinity of Iguala, Gro. In order to facilitate extensive searches, a map of the potential distribution of clandestine graves would be valuable as it can reduce time, cost and effort paid by search brigades. This paper introduces the concept of clandestine space, shows its relation with known grave locations and uses it to map the potential distribution of clandestine graves in Guerrero by means of a machine learning approach.

A Low Cost Approach to Disturbed Soil Detection Using Low Altitude Digital Imagery from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Until recently, clandestine burial investigations relied upon witness statements to determine target search areas of soil and vegetation disturbance. Due to this, remote sensing technologies are increasingly used to detect fresh clandestine graves. However, despite the increased capabilities of remote sensing, clandestine burial searches remain resourcefully intensive as the police have little access to the technology when it is required. In contrast to this, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology is increasingly popular amongst law enforcement worldwide. As such, this paper explores the use of digital imagery collected from a low cost UAV for the aided detection of disturbed soil sites indicative of fresh clandestine graves. This is done by assessing the unaltered UAV video output using image processing tools to detect sites of disturbance, therefore highlighting previously unrecognised capabilities of police UAVs. This preliminary investigation provides a low cost rapid approach to detecting fresh clandestine graves, further supporting the use of UAV technology by UK police.