CLPEX Chat Board

I processed a burglary scene where a bunch of kids broke into a house, ransacked the place, and when they left, squeezed condiment bottles from the refrigerator all over the interior of the house. I'm talking ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo...you name it, they squirted it. When they left, they placed all of the bottles in the microwave and turned it on, seemingly to melt the bottles into a puddle of goo. Well, the bottles didn't melt, but I tried every technique I could think of to develop latents. Negative results. Is a microwave enough to evaporate any moisture from latents and/or denature any amino acids that could be used for chemical processing?

I would love to hear other's thoughts or experiences with this. I am thinking about doing a micro-research project on how microwaves (could) effect latent development.

In my experience, plastic condiment bottles often respond best to magnetic power. You can also try "huffing" with the magnetic powder. I have gotten some good results by huffing a little warm air on the surface, (to add moisture), and drawing the magnetic powder over the area ONCE, in one direction. (Bringing it back the other direction wipes out the print--interesting!) Huff, draw particles over area once, and see what you have, if anything.

I have never tried to process anything that I knew had been microwaved, though.

Thanks Sharon. I've processed plastic bottles like that (mag powder) for a long time. I was just hoping someone had any experiences with 'cooked' evidence and latent print processing.

Just a thought on the microwave thing. My understanding of microwaves is that they heat only the water molecules (in food normally) but they pass through plastic and glass. So, a fingerprint on a plastic condiment bottle would likely be "fried" off after a short time in the microwave, due to the moisture content of the impression.

But... Since they only heat the water, even if all the water was boiled away, it should still leave other contaminants (sebaceous oils etc), unless the moisture pulls some or all of those contaminants with it as it evaporates..

In theory anyway.....