Chapter 5: Estimating Postmortem Interval

This chapter deals with estimating the time that has passed since the death of an individual represented by remains being analyzed by forensic anthropologists. Commonly called the postmortem interval (PMI), estimating the time that has passed since a body was first deposited where it was found helps law enforcement in looking through missing persons files who have been missing since the beginning of that interval. First, the process of decomposition is described, followed by discussions of early attempts at estimating PMI by comparing the amount of decomposition seen in a case with schedules of stages observed in previous cases. Next, the more modern method of estimating time since death using Total Body Score (TBS) and Accumulated Degree Days in conjunction with temperature records is presented, for both surface and submerged remains. How PMI can be estimated by the results of animal scavenging is then described, followed by a discussion of other methods that can aid in estimating this statistic.