Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

LIsa Black

Cape Coral, FL

Female, 49

I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.

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Last Answer on July 21, 2022

Best Rated

Also note that it appears that only the protectant layer was remover that the bar code sorda fadded/rubbed away.

Asked by Laray kirker about 10 years ago

See above.

what is the most gruesome case you have ever worked with and was the person ever caught

Asked by gael luna over 10 years ago

Probably either a (small) plane crash or a shotgun blast. The first was an accident and the second was a suicide, so I suppose you could say the person was caught.

Can u prove the difference betwwen pubic hair and chaset hair or facial hair

Asked by jim amdiny over 10 years ago

Yes, there are visible differences (under a microscope) between the different kinds of body hair.

how often is DNA/fingerprint evidence actually left behind at crime scenes?

Asked by danielle over 10 years ago

That's impossible to say, since there's no way to know if perhaps it was left but simply not discovered. Perhaps they touched something that didn't appear out of place so we didn't fingerprint it. Perhaps they touched everything but have very dry skin so they didn't leave prints. Perhaps they left DNA on the steering wheel of a stolen crime but we didn't collect it because the state lab doesn't do touch DNA analysis on non-violent crimes. There are too many factors involved.

I can say that burglars cut themselves climbing through broken windows perhaps 2-5% of the time. But only a fraction of burglars break windows, so....

when i was in third grade i had a chemistry set- on day a relative gave me conc nitric acid; glycerin and some powdered magnesium - i almost got hurt -got lucky- do u think this person meant me harm- i've often wondered

Asked by markboutwell65@gmail.com over 9 years ago

Without knowing you or your relative, I really couldn't guess. Maybe they hoped you'd read the instructions first?

If somone ejaculated in a girls or guys mouth they swallow can u find dna proving who ejaculated

Asked by jim amdiny over 10 years ago

See above.

How long does it take to really get a fingerprint match if using all available databases?

Asked by Seeker over 10 years ago

That depends entirely on your digital situation. How big is the database (how many fingerprints does it have to search through), are you searching both fingers and palms, how many servers or whatever can you devote to the task, and have the search parameters been narrowed down, say to only right hand fingers or only the left index. All those factors will affect it so that a search could take anywhere from a few seconds to a day .