Jered B Cornelison

• Professor (Assistant) at Western Michigan University

Personal identification is often an essential contribution of forensic anthropologists in medicolegal death investigations. This research evaluated the accuracy and reliability of radiographic features of the lateral foot when used by professionals and graduate students in forensic anthropology for purposes of identification. A survey comprising fi...

Fractures of lower extremity long bones (LELB) are the second-most common injury resulting from motor vehicle collisions (MVC), though forensic investigations most often focus on more fatal injuries of the head, neck, spine, and pelvic regions [1]. LELB fractures are well documented in engineering and automotive safety research and accompany clinic...

Within the medicolegal system, forensic anthropologists assist with scientific identification of decedents in cases involving decomposition, thermal injuries, commingling, disfiguring trauma, or multiple decedents with similar demographic profiles involved in an incident. Methods available for scientific identification include Comparative Medical R...

This case report presents an unusual fracture pattern in the cranium of a four‐month‐old infant indicative of child abuse. Upon postmortem examination, the infant presented with numerous bilateral linear cranial fractures running perpendicular to the sagittal suture with depressed and curvilinear fractures apparent on the supra‐auricular surfaces o...

An accurate assessment of time since fracture is an essential component of abuse and death investigations; however, little evidence-based research exists on dating fractures, especially those of the cranial vault. This is primarily due to difficulties in procuring human fracture specimens of known posttraumatic survival times. The aim of this artic...

Cranial vault fractures are of medicolegal interest as they have long‐term impacts to someone's health and may contribute to an individual's death. The ability to distinguish antemortem from perimortem fractures and to assess the age of the injury is increasingly dependent on histology. Despite the increasing role of histology in assessing the micr...

The extraction of mineral calcium from bone by decalcification is a critical step in the preparation of histological samples for light microscopy. This study assessed the time required for complete decalcification and the resultant histomorphological preservation of bone histomorphology by three decalcification agents: 7% hydrochloric acid (HCl), 5...

This paper presents methods for the disarticulation and steam kettle maceration of embalmed and non-embalmed decedents for forensic casework and curation in anatomical collections. As steam kettles are becoming more commonly used, details on infrastructure and necessary tools for steam kettle maceration are included. This technique was developed ov...

The final research report for the National Institute of Justice.

This paper presents methods for the disarticulation and steam kettle maceration of embalmed and non-embalmed decedents for forensic casework and curation in anatomical collections. As steam kettles are becoming more commonly used, details on infrastructure and necessary tools for steam kettle maceration are included. This technique was developed ov...

The authors recently received a National Institute of Justice (2017-DN-BX-0166) grant for the investigation of cellular and morphologic characteristics of healing cranial vault fractures, in order to develop a time-since-fracture database specifically related to cranial fractures. The database is composed of cranial fractures with a known date and...

As part of an NIJ-sponsored (2017-DN-BX-0166) study investigating cranial fracture healing, three decalcification techniques were explored to determine processing time and clarity of the microanatomy. Forensic histology laboratories often use Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) because it provides the most expedient bone decalcification. There is evidence, how...

Postmortem fingerprint collection is a routine part of many forensic death investigations. Although the production of postmortem prints is usually straight forward, several obstacles and scenarios can make the collection difficult. A common challenge occurs when finger pads are mummified. Several current techniques allow for softening and rehydrati...

Utilizing a practice theory approach with multiscalar data, we combined mound form, internal mound features, and skeletal data to investigate how corporate identity was created and represented within Wisconsin Effigy Mound communities. There is evidence for a widespread ritual and social system shared by participants. However, contextual and biolog...

Pediatric abusive head trauma is a challenging subject across many disciplines. Of particular importance is the identification of mimics of abuse, so cause and manner of death can be properly assigned. We present the case of suspected child abuse involving an infant who presented unresponsive to the hospital with hypoglycemia, hypothermia, and bila...

The collection of high-quality fingerprints is an important component of routine forensic autopsies and represents one of the several potential methods for identifying a decedent. Fingerprint collection at autopsy frequently employs a manual method using fingerprint ink and cards, although some offices use digital-scanning equipment. While these me...

We are reporting on how involved the mentor was in promoting responsible research in cases of research misconduct. We reviewed the USPHS misconduct files of the Office of Research Integrity. These files are created by Institutions who prosecute a case of possible research misconduct; ORI has oversight review of these investigations. We explored the...

Over the last three decades, forensic anthropologists increasingly have consulted on fleshed human remains cases in which the examination of skeletal elements is critical in answering questions of identification and the circumstances of death. This was certainly the case at the Human Identification Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona. As the caseload inc...