SAN FRANCISCO - The kidnapping and murder of 3 years Katie Lynn Lee could leave in 1993 a lasting legacy in law enforcement: the methods to obtain the fingerprints of children before they evaporate crime scenes and develop "profiles" chemical criminals. The results, reported here this week at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, may even lead to a new approach to disease diagnosis.
Police investigating the disappearance of Lee in Knoxville, Tennessee, failed to find evidence of his fingerprints despite witness accounts by placing it on the stage. Police have asked Michelle Buchanan, group leader for organic mass spectrometry to the US Department of Oak Ridge National Laboratory Energy in Tennessee to take a crack at solving the mystery.
team used gas chromatography Buchanan and mass spectrometry to compare chemicals fingertips of dozens of children aged 4 to 17 with those of adults aged 19 to 46. footprints digital kids, they found, quickly evaporated hot surfaces as they are loaded with volatile fatty acids. After puberty, however, the sebaceous glands begin to secrete heavier, alkyl esters, less volatile long chain that dust easily collected carbonaceous impression.
The Buchanan team identified some compounds, such as squalene, common to the fingerprints of children as well as adults. A detection system of unique fingerprints of these chemicals could be developed in 3-5 years, says Knoxville Detective Art Bohanan. "We have identified the problem, and now we need a solution," he said. Meanwhile, Bohanan said investigators should dust for fingerprints of children immediately at a crime scene and preserve key evidence under refrigeration.
the Buchanan team found a host of other ideas in body chemistry hidden in fingerprints. for example, they were able to measure cholesterol, nicotine and levels . hormone in fingerprints subjects "on the road, maybe the police will be able to say:" This footprint was left by a man of 34 who had smoked marijuana and had high cholesterol , "said a member of the Stephen Jarboe team from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Buchanan said she hopes the results will encourage researchers to develop profiling systems criminals and diagnosis of diseases without surgery.
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