Latent prints on sooted objects

 

Arson cases usually entail a problem for crime scene investigators: some evidence is either destroyed by flames or suffers from damage caused by firefighting operations. Remaining items are covered with smeary layers of pitch black soot, concealing fingerprints from the eyes of the forensic experts.

Now EVISCAN helps to make those soot-covered fingerprints visible, hence offering the possibility to examine important exhibits such as molotov cocktails and glass, metal or ceramic items after the fire.

So far it is almost impossible to prepare fingerprints covered with soot for a dactyloscopic identification with conventional examination methods. As these require to cautiously remove the soot, it can easily occur that fingerprints, too, will be removed. Unlike that, EVISCAN can detect and preserve fingerprints through their mask of soot with no necessity to even touch the exhibit. The results are immediately transferred to a computer screen to be enhanced and secured for further processing.