3. Inventory 98. Crime-scene notes should include a detailed inventory of the human remains recovered, and should describe: (a) The state of decomposition of the remains (b) The body parts/skeletal elements recovered and their specific location(s) (c) Any visible defects/possible trauma (d) Clothing (e) Personal effects (f) Any other contextual evidence associated directly with the remains (e.g. ligatures, blindfolds, projectiles, trace evidence). 99. The inventory should be drawn up under the supervision of a forensic pathologist/doctor and/ or forensic anthropologist. A field identification of body parts/skeletal elements and trauma should not be taken as final until confirmed by analysis in the laboratory or mortuary. Any descriptions and preliminary determinations noted in the field should be recorded in the crime-scene notes and documented through photography and anatomical diagrams, and in any scene sketches. The labelling on the packaging needs to be consistent with the numbering in the inventory, on the diagrams and on the skeletal inventory forms, and should be documented by photography. 100. Human remains are found in a wide variety of circumstances, each of which may affect the recovery and handling of the remains. The circumstances outlined below are for intact bodies, skeletal remains on the surface, and buried bodies or skeletal remains. 4. Intact bodies 101. Intact bodies are human remains that are recognizable as one individual with most of the soft tissue present. In general, no detailed examination or recovery of evidence on or attached to the remains should be undertaken at the scene unless there are good reasons for doing so. 102. The preservation of trace evidence (e.g. gunshot residue, fibres, hairs and foreign DNA on clothing) should be taken into account. In some cases such evidence might be contaminated (for example, by blood from the deceased), displaced from its original location, or lost in transport when left on the body. In such cases, the clothing should be carefully removed, secured in individual packaging and placed in the body bag along with the body. The rationale for this decision should be explained and recorded in the crime-scene notes and documented through photography. 20 The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016) 103. Trace evidence that might be present on the hands and/or under the fingernails (such as fibres or foreign DNA) can be protected for later collection under controlled conditions in the mortuary by placing the hands (and feet when necessary) in paper bags, which should be sealed with tape. Consideration should be given to whether fluid may leak from the body, thereby contaminating the paper bags. Plastic bags encourage moisture condensation and mould growth if left in place too long, but for short periods of time (e.g. several hours) they may be more effective than paper bags, which are prone to leaks. 104. The placement of the body within the scene should be clearly and properly documented and the surface underneath the body processed for any additional evidence that might be present. 105. The body should be placed in a body bag following chain-of-custody procedures. These procedures include the correct labelling of the body and body bag, the completion of related documentation for security/chain of custody, and the sealing and signing of the body bag. 106. Once the body has been recovered, it should be placed in refrigerated or cool storage to inhibit further decomposition of the remains. 5. Skeletal remains on the surface 107. Sometimes human remains found on the surface are disarticulated and separated from each other to such a degree that any association between them has been lost. In these circumstances, where possible, a forensic anthropologist or forensic doctor should be present at the scene, allowing a preliminary field assessment of: (a) Whether the remains are human or not (b) Whether the remains represent one or more individuals (c) The presence of any visible trauma. The expert should then supervise a correct inventory of the human remains. 108. In such circumstances, coordinated crimescene search methods should be used to locate all human remains prior to the labelling, documentation, recovery and preparation of an inventory. The pattern of the scattering throughout the scene should be documented in notes and sketches and through photography. Where available, a total station can also be used. This can indicate where a body or bodies first came to rest prior to disassociating into individual parts.