Friday, 27 January 2012

A cry wolf incident

‘What is it?’

Sgt Niel van der Merwe of the Provincial Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management Processing Team consults with the forensic library

A rare moment of relief in the day of the men in blue

Petrified hairdressers had a hair-raising experience on Tuesday when a dismembered body part was discovered in the alley next to their Meerensee salon. A local doctor was called to the scene and after observing the object, concluded that it could possibly be of human origin. The police were immediately alerted and arrived in full force, with Sgt Niel van der Merwe of the Provincial Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management Processing Team to investigate, with the Empangeni Dog Unit to assist. Due to the wonders of modern forensics, the hexagon obti test revealed within almost seconds that the mass was not of human origin.

‘The hexagon obti is a rapid screening test, in function much like a pregnancy test, which presumes whether a bloodstain is of human origin. ‘It helps the detective on the scene to choose to collect a sample as evidence or not. ‘A positive result indicates a strong likelihood of human blood but a lab analysis would later confirm this.’ Although the result was met with sighs of relief from the police, hairdressers and concerned community members, the origin and nature of the biological mass is still unknown. ‘The K9 unit removed whatever it was, but we can only speculate as to how it got there and where it came from, so I guess the mystery has still not been solved. ‘Could it be something the cat dragged in?’