Students Investigate Crime Scene At Camp

FARMINGTON — Sixth and seventh graders at Lynch Middle School used old-fashioned investigative skills and new technology to try to figure out if a crime had occurred at their school last week.

About 24 students participated in a week-long science camp on crime scene investigations sponsored by middle school science teacher Melissa Miller. The CSI camp was held June 17-21. A second camp on kitchen chemistry was held June 24-28.

During the first part of the week, Miller said her students learned the skills they would need to look at evidence from a crime scene. They learned how to identify tire tracks, how to use a microscope to determine the difference between human and animal hair, how to determine if a fiber was made from natural or synthetic materials and how to analyze fingerprints.

Miller then showed them the scene and the students’ job was to determine if a crime actually had taken place.

The students learned a body had been taken from the scene but the body disappeared before making it to the crime lab. Using evidence from the scene, the students had to figure out if “Felix” had been murdered or if his death had been faked for some reason.

Felix named four beneficiaries in his will, so all four were considered suspects in the alleged murder.

The students took notes from the scene using pen and notebook but they also used their cellphones to take photos of the evidence. The evidence included soft drink cans, what appeared to be blood, white powder, footprints, dog prints, a trash can and bodybuilding weights.

They then returned to the classroom to analyze the evidence.

Miller said the crime scene included “red herrings” and the students had to figure out which of the pieces of evidence were real and which didn’t matter.

Seventh grader Jaden Mills said she believed a murder had occurred and pointed to a note found at the scene. In this note, Vera wrote, “Dear Martha, The deed is done and Felix is dead. I’ll be rich soon.”

Mills said she thought Vera committed the murder because of the note.

However, another student disagreed, saying, he thought “Kendra” committed the murder. A powder found on the scene was the same powder found on Kendra’s shoes, he said.

Most students seemed to think that the murder was committed by a woman because a pair of woman’s sunglasses was found at the scene.

Miller said she sponsors summer science camps to hopefully increase the students’ interest in science and a career in the science field.

“I hope they will take more science classes in high school, rather than just the minimum,” Miller said, adding she wants students to learn that a career in engineering or other science fields can be a lot of fun.

The students enjoyed their week learning about crime scene investigations.

LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Mark Everett, left, Anthony Million and Jaden Mills, students at Lynch Middle School in Farmington, make observations about an alleged crime scene at their school, one using his cell phone to take photos and the others taking notes the oldfashioned...