Instrumental neutron activation analysis in forensic science in Jamaica: The case of the Coral Springs beach theft Charles N. Grant, Johann M.R. Antoine ⇑ International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences, 2 Anguilla Close, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica article info Article history: Received 31 May 2017 Received in revised form 7 October 2017 Accepted 11 October 2017 Available online xxxx Keywords: Neutron activation analysis Beach sediments Geoforensics Jamaica Forensic science Statistical evaluation abstract Following the theft of sand from the Coral Springs beach in Jamaica, authorities approached the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences to determine if geochemical analysis could add evidentiary value to collected sediment samples. Forty-three beach sediments comprising of scene and suspect samples were submitted for inorganic elemental investigation by neutron activation analy- sis. The samples were analyzed for thirty-five elements of which nine (Al, Ca, Ce, Cr, Dy, Fe, Mn, Sc and Sr) were used in statistical evaluation including agglomerative hierarchical clustering, of the dataset. Al, Fe and Sc were the elements with greatest discriminatory power. The methodology illustrated clear similar- ities in elemental profiles between the donor beach and some suspected receptor beaches while exclud- ing other suspected receptor beaches and potential donor beaches. Interrogation of the dataset provided additional and important information for the authorities and indicated that neutron activation analysis with the use of multivariate statistics can contribute significantly to geoforensic investigations. Ó 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The discovery of the theft of an estimated five-hundred truck- loads of beach sand from the Coral Springs Beach, Trelawny in Jamaica garnered much local media attention in July of 2008 [1]. The estimated hundreds of tons of sand that were thought to have been moved spoke to a level of organization that was of note even in a country where illegal sand mining is a regular occurrence. Sev- eral months later the case started to gain international attention while still not resulting in any arrests locally [2]. It was reported that the authorities were employing various techniques to match samples of the beach in Coral Springs with several other resort areas on the north coast of Jamaica [3]. Presumably wishing to aug- ment the discriminatory power of the methods used up to that point, the Forensics Science Laboratory, now merged with the Legal Medicine Unit to form the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine, approached the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) to determine if instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was an appropriate technique for the analysis of the beach samples. Neutron activation analysis (NAA) featured quite prominently in forensics applications as early as the 1960 s when it was first used in court cases in the United States [4]. Research illustrated the many contributions this mature technique could make to forensic science [5–9]. As a chemically non-destructive, multi- element technique, with a wide linear range of measurement and that is largely matrix independent the technique had clear advan- tages. Furthermore, when practiced as INAA the sources of error are well understood and the case has been made that this tech- nique should be considered a primary ratio method [10]. However as competing techniques with similar sensitivities became more available [11,12], including nuclear analytical techniques [13] that had several of the advantages of NAA but could offer additional parameters, were less expensive, more rapid and more available to forensics departments NAA was less frequently used by law enforcement. It has been noted that INAA is well suited for the analysis of soils and sediments [14]. Several of the more sensitive techniques for geochemical analysis require digestion and those that require less or none in general do not have the requisite sensitivities [15]. With no need for chemical dissolution this technique has the added benefit of eliminating this source of error while still being very sensitive. NAA still features prominently in cases where its unique mix of analytical capabilities can aid conventional pro- cedures to meet the needs of forensic science [16,17]. This work presents the methodology employed and the contribution made https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forc.2017.10.001 2468-1709/Ó 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: 2 Anguilla Close, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica. E-mail addresses: charles.grant@uwimona.edu.jm (C.N. Grant), johann.antoine@ uwimona.edu.jm (J.M.R. Antoine). Forensic Chemistry xxx (2017) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forensic Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forc Please cite this article in press as: C.N. Grant, J.M.R. Antoine, Instrumental neutron activation analysis in forensic science in Jamaica: The case of the Coral Springs beach theft, Forensic chem. (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forc.2017.10.001