The Mystery

Make a heading in your Laboratory Journal titled The MysteryMake a sub-heading: Clues

• Read the paragraph and look carefully for information that might be important in determining the cause of death.

• You should have a list of 8 to 10 clues.

It was a warm, summer morning. The emergency call came in at 7:15 am. The 911 operator notified the local police and the emergency medical technicians (EMT). Both the police and the EMT arrived at the scene at 7:26 am. The front door was ajar and a woman lay face down in the entry hallway. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties and of Hispanic descent.

Next to the body was a small table that had been knocked over. Blood stains were on the edge of the table and under the head of the victim. Trauma to the head was clearly evident. The victim had vomited and her fingernails were gray. She had been found by a neighbor who was alerted by the loud, excited barking of the victim’s dog in this normally quiet suburban neighborhood. The EMT determined the woman was dead. The police notified the crime scene investigators and the coroner who were dispatched to the house.

The neighbor informed the police that she had spoken to the victim when she saw her walking her dog around 6:30 am that morning. The neighbor said the victim routinely walked her dog each morning at that time and that she appeared to be fine when they talked that morning. After the crime scene investigators finished examining the home, the coroner removed the body and took it to themedical examiner’s officefor evaluation to determinethe cause of death.

Was the death by natural causes or had a crime been committed? The mystery begins. (Don’t worry – the dog was taken to the home of close family friends and is doing just fine!)

Now jot down your list of 8 to 10 clues that would be important in determining the death of this victim.

Answer this conclusion Question (in your lab journal:

Imagine that you are the person who is responsible for determining the cause of death of our victim. Make a list of ten specific questions that need to be answered during the investigation into her death. At least five of the ten questions must directly involve the medical condition of the victim. Note: The questions must be specific—not “What caused the death?”