Case review Bodies in sequestered and non-sequestered aquatic environments: A comparative taphonomic study using decompositional scoring system A. De Donno a,1 , C.P. Campobasso b, ⁎ ,1 , V. Santoro a , S. Leonardi a , S. Tafuri c , F. Introna a a Section of Legal Medicine, University of Bari, Policlinico, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124, Bari Italy b Dept. of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, via De Sanctis, 86100, Campobasso, Italy c Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Hygiene, University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124, Bari Italy abstract article info Article history: Received 23 April 2014 Received in revised form 4 September 2014 Accepted 20 October 2014 Keywords: Forensic taphonomy Decomposition Post-mortem interval Accumulated degree days Drowning Marine environments The study of decomposition by using accumulated degree days (ADDs) has been suggested not only in terrestrial decay but also for water-related deaths. Previous studies have demonstrated that the accumulation of thermal energy as a function of the post-mortem submersion interval (PMSI) can be derived from a descriptive decompositional scoring system (DSS). In order to verify how useful can the total aquatic decomposition score (TADS) for ADD prediction be, a comparative taphonomic study has been performed between two series of bodies: 16 corpses found floating in shallower waters with a presumptive PMSI from 3 to 118 days and exposed to water temperatures (Tw) between 10.5 and 20.3 °C approximately equating from a minimum of 46 to 1.392 ADD; 52 bodies, all victims of a single shipwreck, foundin sequestered environments and subjected to constant Tw of 4 °C for 210 days approximately equating to 840 ADD. The two series of bodies have revealed different stages of decay and a large DSS variability. In most of bodies, freshly formed adipocere was able to delay the appearance of later decompositional stages explaining why most of the bodies were in relatively good condition. Although prom- ising, the accuracy of the TADS model can be affected by adipocere and animal activity. The TADS model suffers of the same limitations for ADD calculations as they can give a false perception of accuracy due to the complexity of integrating all changing factors affecting human decay in sequestered and non-sequestered marine environments (currents, animal activity, water temperatures, depth of submersion). © 2014 Forensic Science Society. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction A primary task of any death investigation is the reliable estimation of the post-mortem interval (PMI) which is the time elapsed between death and the recovery of the body also known as time since death [1]. For bodies in aquatic environment the PMI is also called post-mortem submersion interval (PMSI). In this regard, it is widely accepted that terrestrial decomposition differs from aquatic decomposition [2]. In fact, sea water usually slows up putrefaction [3], mainly because of the cooler aquatic temperatures compared with terrestrial temperatures, the salinity or salt concentration reducing the bacterial action, and the protection from insect and small mammal predators [4,5]. However, aquatic environments can deeply affect the rate of post-mortem decay as well as the preservation/dispersal of bodies submerged commonly exposed to different changing conditions like currents, marine animal activity and, water temperatures which can be considered relatively constant depending mainly on depth of submersion [6,7]. Unfortunately, in the forensic context there are only few studies dealing with marine taphonomy and the fate of human remains in aquatic environment [8–12]. In 1972, Payne & King [13] first focused on the soft tissue disappear- ance and loss of body parts using fetal pigs carcasses submerged. Later, Haglund [8] reported the general pattern of soft tissue disappearance and disarticulation of eleven human remains found submerged in salt water and fresh water, by using a skeletonization scoring system (SSS). The SSS was adopted looking for the regional presence of soft tissue, ex- posure of bone, and disarticulation at the head, neck, hands, forearms, upper arms, feet, legs, pelvic girdle, and trunk. Using pig models in the marine context, Canadian authors [14–16] observed that most inverte- brate faunas are opportunistic scavengers and fed on the remains at all time so that no classic succession of invertebrate species can be deter- mined in contrast with insect colonization in terrestrial environments. In deeper experiments, pig carcasses were skeletonized in less than a month due to animal activity whereas for shallow carcasses the remains were not skeletonized for many weeks [16]. It has been noted [1] that most of the scientific papers dealing with PMI as well as PMSI estimation as case studies on human remains or animal models “have never gained any practical relevance since they do not meet the demands in practice (being precise, reliable and giving an Science and Justice 54 (2014) 439–446 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, via De Sanctis, snc., 86100 Campobasso, Italy. Tel.: +39 0874 404 776; fax: +39 0874 404 778. E-mail addresses: carlo.campobasso@unimol.it, cpcarlo@yahoo.com (C.P. Campobasso). 1 These authors have contributed equally to this paper. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2014.10.003 1355-0306/© 2014 Forensic Science Society. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 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