FBI agents train at UT ‘ body farm’
Kneeling around a shallow grave, four FBI agents removed the dirt methodically, using small shovels and dustpans to look for human remains. “Is that the skull?” one asked. Joanne Devlin, a University of Tennessee anthropologist, told agents they had uncovered the rear part of the skull — just behind the ear.
At crime scenes, members of the FBI evidence response team look for human remains and collect evidence. Then specialists like the anthropologists at the UT Forensic Anthropology Center — often called the “body farm” — analyze the evidence to figure out what happened to the person who died.
This week, roughly 40 FBI agents from around the country, including Knoxville, have been practicing just that at the UT center, which was the first of its kind to use the bodies of donors as a way to study human decomposition.
“In our world, it would be a victim,” said Leslie Kopper, a special agent for the FBI based in Denver, as she helped recover the human remains. “Here, it’s a donor.”
This year is the 17th annual training in evidence recovery for FBI agents at the center.
It’s one of the center’s longestrunning training programs, said Dawnie Steadman, the center’s director.
The training is “as realistic as possible” for the agents and allows for center staff and graduate students to meet and work with members of the FBI, said Devlin, assistant director of the center.
Marshall Stone, supervisory special agent for the FBI’s Knoxville field office, said the training is popular among agents and there’s a waiting list of agents who want to attend each year.
“It’s very practical experience for body recovery and crime scene processing,” Stone said. “It’s been a great relationship with UT over the years to be able to provide this to the FBI.”
Stone said learning from experts and then having an opportunity to apply it immediately is unique.
“Body recovery is something you may not have a lot of experience in because you may not encounter it all that frequently in the FBI,” he said.
Evidence recovery is more than taking a shovel, digging up a clandestine grave and then putting bones in a box, Devlin said. She said FBI agents at a crime scene need to note how the bones are arranged and consider additional evidence like insects, which can help determine details like how long a body has been in a certain location.
She said anthropologists then analyze that information.
During the weeklong FBI training, Devlin said the agents learned technique in the classroom and then applied their new skills at the outdoor center, “almost like a test.”
Kopper said the agents first had to locate the clandestine grave by looking for disturbances and areas that look different from the nearby landscape.
Once they found the site, she said, they outlined an excavation area with the help of center staff.
“They’ve taught us to go through, very methodically through the soil and identify the boundaries,” she said.
Kopper said agents working in evidence recovery do that in addition to other full- time roles with the FBI, such as investigating white- collar crime or working in national security.
“What we’re hoping is to be able to recognize when we’re out in the field when we may need a specialist to join us,” she said. “We’re learning to identify what would be of value at the scene.”
Contact MJ Slaby at mj.slaby@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6305.