Latent prints on a road flare.

[AdamH]

Does anyone have any bright ideas on the best method for processing a partially burned road flare for latent prints other than the normal route you would take for processing a porous item? Just thought I would check and see if anyone has any neat tricks I'm not aware of. Thanks.

[areitnau]

Hello,

Just a thought. Instead of the standard DFO/Ninhydrin route, I might try Indandione. Since I'm sure the covering of the flare has some thermal properties, using Indanedione and securing it in the dark without treating with light/heat for 72 hours might work...

Andy Reitnauer

[Gerald Clough]

How porous is it really? Seems like many I've used had a waxy coating. I wouldn't do it without experimenting, but if it was waxy, I'd sure think about Gellifter.

[AdamH]

The exterior is kind of a thick construction paper material. It does not have a waxy feel to it at all.

Andy, would you be able to provide me with a link or something to look into "Indandione"? I'm not 100% sure I have heard of that process.

[printlady]

The May/June 2009 issue of the JFI has an article on The Recoverability of Fingerprints on Paper Exposed to Elevated Temperatures - Parts 1 and 2. Not sure if a flare qualifies as it is analyzing items heated from 100 to 200 C, but it might be worth a read. It recommends DFO followed by PD.

[Ernie Hamm]

The following articles address the indanidione (and other) process:

Recent Latent Print Visualisation Research at the US Secret Service, Ramotowski, Robert and Antonio A. Cantu , Fingerprint Whorld, 27:104 (2001)

The Results From a Canadian National Field Trial Comparing Two Formulations of 1,8-diazafluoren-9-one (DFO) with 1,2-Indanedione, Wilkinson, Della, Ed Mackenzie, Cindy Leech, Dan Mayowski, Serge Bertrand and Tim Walker, Identification Canada, 26:2 (2003

Amino Acid Specific Fingerprint Reagents: A Historical Review, Sodhi, G.S. and Jaspeet Kaur, Identification Canada, 26:4 (2003)

Thermal Paper: Latent Friction Ridge Development via 1,2-Indanedione, Stimac, Jon T., Journal of Forensic Identification, 53:3, (2003)

An Operational Trial of Ozone-Friendly DFO and 1,2-Indanedione Formulations for Latent Fingerprint Detection, Merrick, Sarah, Sarah J. Gardner, Vaughn G. Sears and Dudley F. Hewlett, Journal of Forensic Identification, 52:5 (2002)

The Detection and Enhancement of Latent Fingermarks on Porous Surfaces - A Survey, Wallace-Kunkel, Christie, Claude Roux, Chris Lennard and Milutin Stoilovic, Journal of Forensic Identification, 54:6, (2004)

Evaluation of a 1,2-Indanedione Formulation Containing Zinc Chloride for Improved Fingermark Detection on Paper, Stoilovic, Milutin, Chris Lennard, Christie Wallace-Kunkel and Claude Roux, Journal of Forensic Identification, 57:1, (2007)

Use of Dichloromethane in Fingerprint Reagent Formulations: Letter to the Editor, Stoilovic, Milutin, Chris Lennard, Christie Wallace-Kunkel and Claude Roux, Journal of Forensic Identification, 57:3, (2007)

Evaluation of 1,2-Indanedione and 5,6-Dimethoxy-1,2-Indanedione for the Detection of Latent Fingerprints on Porous Surfaces, Roux, Claude; Naomi Jones, Chris Lennard and Milutin Stoilovic, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 45:4 (2000)

Chemical Development of Latent Fingerprints: 1,2-Indanedione Has Come of Age, Wiesner, Sarena; Eliot Springer, Yoel Sasson and Joseph Almog, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 46:5 (2001)

Optimization and Initial Evaluation of 1,2-indanidione as a Reagent for Fingerprint Detection, Gardner, Sarah J. and Dudley F. Hewlett, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 48:6 (2003)

Fingerprints' Third Dimension: The Depth and Shape of Fingerprints Penetration into Paper-Cross Section Examination by Fluorescence Microscopy, Almog, Joseph, Myriam Azoury, Yifat Elmaliah, Larisa Berenstein and Arie Zaban, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 49:5 (2004)

1,2-Indanediones: A Preliminary Evaluation of a New Class of Amino Acid Visualizing Compounds, Ramotowski, Robert, Antonio A. Cantu, Madeleine M. Joullie and Olga Petrovskaia, Fingerprint Whorld, 24:90 (1997)

1,2-Indanediones: A Preliminary Evaluation of a New Class of Amino Acid Visualizing Compounds (A Correction), Ramotowski, Robert, Antonio A. Cantu, Madeleine M. Joullie and Olga Petrovskaia, Fingerprint Whorld, 24:91 (1998)

[areitnau]

The Chesapeake Division of the IAI has a lot of processing techniques listed in their "Chemical Reagents" page, http://www.cbdiai.org. In addition to the references listed above, I recently attended a forum where Worcester, Mass. PD did a presentation based upon previous publications by the USSS concerning a Zinc Chloride/Indanedione mixture. I personally like the use of Indanedione over DFO on cardboard, manila envelopes, brown bags, and thermal paper.

Andy

[Neville]

check the fluorescences of the paper first to ensure it is at a different wave length to the dye.

[Ernie Hamm]

Went to an updated reference index and found the following with reference to indanedione-zinc:

Spectral Variations for Reaction Products Formed Between Different Amino Acids and Latent Fingermark Detection Reagents on a Range of Cellulose-Based Substrates, Xanthe Spindler, Milutin Stoilovic, Chris Lennard and Aimee Lennard, Journal of Forensic Identification, 59:3, (2009) Study involving ninhydrin, indanedione, indanedione-zinc and DFO reagents under varying paper substrates and environmental conditions

[rjk.css]

The outer layers of road flare paper are generally treated to make them weather and water resistant. Even though they may not have the thick layer of wax found on the older flares, they will have some type of coating or impregnation such as resin. Consequently, I would think that you should first consider them to have an imporous rather than porous surface. During your experimentation prior to processing, put a drop of water on the surface to see whether it is absorbed or not. If not, then consider something like SPR.

[Spartacus3131]

Most of us may be thinking of the road flares that are available to law enforcement. Those are, indeed, coated with a resin to make them waterproof. However, many commercially available ones are more cheaply made and have a paper coating that, at the very least, borders on semi-porous to porous. They are often included in standard emergency car kits sold at car parts stores. In only add this as the original observations indicated this and there is an explanation. The suggestion of the drop of water test will help and, if it's the type I'm thinking, there will be some absorption and will turn one's focus towards a porous/semi-porous solution and, no doubt, the JFI article already mentioned.

Dave M