A FIELD of corpses in varying stages of decomposition is the last place most of us would like to hang out, but for our very own queen of the dead, it’s a dream many years in the making.
University of Technology, Sydney, forensic chemist Shari Forbes has confirmed the country’s first so-called “body farm”, a 48-hectare bush site in the Hawkesbury region on the outskirts of Sydney, will be ready in January 2016.
The Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (AFTER) will function as an outdoor laboratory to study the human decomposition process and is one of just seven in the world — the other six are in the United States.
The project has been 10 exhaustive years in the making and is set to revolutionise forensic investigation, providing police with more accurate information and fast-tracking justice for homicide and unexplained death victims and their families.
Until now, Australian police and forensic investigators have had to rely on experiments conducted on pig cadavers or data from the US to estimate time of death and other factors vital to establishing the profile of a dead body.
“(The facility) will change the face of death investigation in Australia,” Prof Forbes told news.com.au.
“Our climate is very different to the US as is our ecosystem, ecology and geology and because we’re an island we have wildlife and insects that are particular to us. What all of that means is variable to the data we rely on from animal carcasses and from (human cadavers in) the US. No one has ever proven the accuracy (of the pig carcass data) in so it’s a huge assumption.
The facility will become operational when the first donor dies and ultimately accommodate six human corpses representing different types from victims, from deceased hikers to those who have been brutally murdered.
“Once a body is donated, they will arrive at UTS and we will prepare the remains to offer certain scenarios, depending on what police need,” Prof Forbes, who will serve as the farm’s co-ordinator, said.
“One body might be buried in a shallow grave or partially covered in vegetation, another left exposed to the elements to mimic a perished bushwalker and others we may wrap in blankets or plastic to mimic the effect of concealment on decomposition.
“We do place mesh over the bodies to protect them from the local wildlife scavengers because animal scavenging is one of the main drivers of accelerated decomposition.
“Each body will stay at the site for many years and ultimately don’t stop contributing to science. Depending on wishes of the family the remains will go on to be used as anatomy aides and other research tools. It’s hugely important to us and the families of the donors that the bodies are treated with the utmost respect.”
The subjects will be monitored on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis by a range of scientists including entomologists, archaeologists, biologists, and anthropologists.
In her role as a forensic chemist, Prof Forbes will study the smell of death in its various stages in order to create an “odour profile” that can be used to refine the skills of police sniffer dogs to locate the remains of victims.
Police have already expressed support for the facility and Prof Forbes said she had been “pleasantly surprised” at the number of donors lining up to join the program — close to 100 people have become or offered to become donors — despite some initial negative publicity arising from complaints submitted to Hawkesbury City Council when the development application was lodged.
“I am an old homicide investigator, and all that stuff that comes out of this work adds to the knowledge and the database of different things about decomposition,” he said.
“It can help solve crime. There are a myriad of things we look at to determine the last movements of the deceased, and it is critical to lock in death to a particular time.”
The site is owned by UTS and was chosen because it was remote while still being accessible to police and forensic investigators. Prof Forbes and her colleagues have tried to keep the location a secret for obvious reasons, however an early report on the project let the cat out of the bag.
Eventually the aim is to establish body farms around Australia — from Tropical North Queensland to the arid outback of the Top End and the cold of Tasmania — to study the impact of diverse climates and environmental condition on the decomposition process.
Body farms also offer a cheap alternative to a coffin burial or cremation and appeal to people who want to be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.
‘It’s something that I hear a lot from donors,’ says Forbes. ‘They like the idea of ‘being returned to the earth’, of essentially just going back to nature.’
The term “body farm” comes from the title of a 1994 novel by crime writer Patricia Cornwell, which was set at a similar facility in Tennessee.
Another facility, Freeman Ranch in San Marcos, Texas is home to about 50 human corpses donated to the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, which uses them to conduct research that can help medical examiners identify bodies, rescuers find missing persons and law enforcement solve crimes.
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