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Because pigs have remarkably similar anatomy to humans, knowing the signs of decomposition in the animals can help identify hidden graves of humans.
Victims of cartel violence in Jalisco, Mexico, often go missing for years, and they can be buried in graves that prove difficult to find.
Researchers have replicated these burials with pig cadavers, identifying substances released into the soil by decomposition, as well as insect activity and the positioning of soil and plants.
Knowing what signs to look for helps both forensic scientists and the families of the deceased in the ongoing search for missing cartel victims.
Jalisco, Mexico, is renowned for its mariachi music, rodeos, top-shelf tequila and historic capital city of Guadalajara, but beneath this colorful facade lurks a dark underbelly of crime. The Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel is behind the murder and disappearance of thousands of victims who are often never found.
Over one hundred thousand people have disappeared under mysterious circumstances linked to the crime syndicate since 2006—About 15,500 were reported missing in March of this year alone. Efforts to find the remains of loved ones have often been futile. Members of the Guerreros Buscadores collective, who tirelessly try to locate the missing, have found hundreds of items of clothing on the property, along with charred human remains that were almost impossible to identify.
While a mapping project headed by the federal research institute CentroGeo keeps testing new techniques and equipment, such as laser scanners and thermal drones, that could lead to breakthroughs in unearthing clandestine graves, technology is not enough. This is why the Jalisco Search Commission is trying to learn more about identifying hidden bodies by dressing up pig cadavers in human clothes and burying them.
While humans may not look anything like pigs, Homo sapiens have 98% of their DNA in common with the hoofed mammals. Too few humans donate their bodies to taphonomic facilities (often called “body farms”). Most donors are also elderly and die of natural causes, while cartel victims are usually adults whose lives are lost in violence. Swine models are ideal analogs for humans due to size and fat distribution. The structure and thickness of skin are incredibly similar, which makes the ideal for studying postmortem insect colonization and other decomposition processes.
Forensic scientists in Jalisco have learned to pick up on some telltale signs of a grave. After the burial of pig carcasses in one area of the Search Commission’s facility, scientists led by mapping project coordinator José Luis Silván noticed yellow flowers blooming from the phosphorus leaching into the soil from bodily fluids. Another group of researchers who ran their own experiments with pigs were able to connect levels of phosphorus in the soil with decomposition. Phosphorus encourages flowering in plants, which is why the sight of yellow flowers guides those in search of graves.
Other elements released as pig cadavers decompose, such as nitrogen and potassium, are detected by drones with hyperspectral cameras that measure light signatures from substances in the ground. Nitrogen contained in the tissues of organisms is in its organic form. When fungi and microbes start to decompose dead tissue, inorganic nitrogen is then returned to the soil as ammonia. Potassium can release during the early stages of decomposition because it is not bound to carbon in an organic form, which is why its presence could possibly identify the body of someone recently reported as missing.
Silván and his fellow researchers also use graves behind a transparent acrylic pane to study cadavers decomposing in real time. They also analyze soil samples from the pig graves and compare the to those from human graves. Both are especially important in terms of insect activity, since some species, such as blowflies, colonize soon, and others appear later. The growth phases of larvae when a body is discovered can possibly give away how much time has elapsed since death.
Victims of cartel murders also tend to be found in certain places, as the commission has learned from information given by family members who have found clandestine graves. Many of these graves are found under trees with vertical roots because grave diggers prefer to stay in the shade when the scorching Mexican sun is beating down. Other graves have been identified by the placement of soil and plants that, when compared to the surrounding environment, seem unnatural.
“In the context of this terrible tragedy, Amnesty International urges the Mexican state to engage in dialogue with the searchers, to listen to their needs and to recognize the experience they have gained through many years of work in the field,” said Edith Olivares Ferreto, Executive Director of Amnesty International Mexico. “[They should also be guaranteed] their right to search without fear.”
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