International Rescue Training Centre Wales is working in conjunction with AFIS (Archaeo-Forensic Investigation and Search)

AFIS

Archaeo-Forensic Investigation and Search

Archaeo-Forensic Investigation and Search (AFIS) was formed in 2009. It has been established to undertake reviews of homicides and other fatal incidents involving the secretion or loss of victims and to undertake the search, recovery and repatriation of their remains.  AFIS consists of a group of individual experts and practitioners who have worked together over the past four years in Ireland for the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR).

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains was instituted in 1998, as a result of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, and is sponsored by the Governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, which each appoint a Commissioner. As its title suggests, the Commission is independent but reports back to the two governments on a regular basis.

In 2005, Mr Knupfer was approached to conduct a review of what had occurred to date and also to make recommendations as to how the Commission might best progress its work in the future. His review and recommendations were accepted by the Commission and the two Governments and, in 2006, the group of investigators and forensic scientists, which now form the nucleus of the AFIS consortium, were brought together to undertake cold case reviews on individual cases and, where possible, to search for and recover the remains of the missing victims.

The structure of the Commission’s forensic investigation and search team currently comprises:

Senior Investigator / Lead Scientist

Deputy Senior Investigator / Family Liaison Officer

Investigator

Consultant Forensic Archaeologists / Anthropologists

Consultant Geophysicists

Canine Search Provision

Imagery Analyst

Most of our associates employed by the Commission are either independent consultants or members of niche specialist commercial organisations. Others are academics operating in the forensic science field. For the purposes of our work in Ireland, each expert is (effectively) self-employed and operates on a per diem rate. Additional specialist provision (e.g. DNA analysis, document examination, Lidar survey, aerial imagery, etc) is bought in on an ad hoc basis from relevant high quality providers. Site excavation and restoration is undertaken, where necessary, by local civil engineering contractors, who are only allowed to operate under the direct supervision of our forensic archaeologists.

In summary, our approach to cases of this nature is, initially, to conduct background investigations. This might encompass liaison with law enforcement agencies and military, the handling of intermediaries and sources, the recovery of relevant documentation and imagery, the analysis of intelligence and, where appropriate, the tracing and interview of potential witnesses. The site will then be surveyed, measured, mapped and gridded. Every stage of our work is meticulously recorded. Archaeological survey will only commence at that stage and will progress sequentially from non-invasive to invasive techniques, as considered appropriate. Non-invasive approaches might include field walking, aerial survey, vegetation survey, geophysical survey and canine search.

Due to the confidential nature of our work for the Commission, we are not at liberty to provide a detailed account of our activities, save to say that we have completed operations on two sites which have been completely eliminated. We have also completed our work on a third site from which we recovered and identified the remains of a victim abducted and murdered in 1981. At the time of writing, we have team members deployed on three further sites.

The very cornerstone of our work encompasses the provision of high quality family liaison and victim (family) support. We maintain close links and an excellent rapport with the victims’ families. We ensure that relatives are always well informed and advised as to current activity and potential outcomes. We also endeavour to manage any media coverage of our work, maintaining a professional profile commensurate with our role and the case in question.

Given our extensive experience and expertise, we believe we are rightly regarded as unsurpassed experts in the highly specialised process of ‘disappeared’ cold case review, investigation and search. Below are pen pictures of some of the key members of the AFIS consortium.

Our canine forensic search capability is provided exclusively by members of the International Rescue Training Centre (Wales) team.

 

GEOFFREY C KNUPFER MBE - Consultant Forensic Scientist & Investigator

 

Mr Knupfer was educated in Derbyshire and Manchester. He holds an Honours Degree in Politics and History, a Master of Science Degree in Forensic Science, a Diploma in Crime Scene Science and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education.

His areas of interest include major crime investigation / management, crime scene investigation, forensic ballistics and forensic archaeology. He has lectured and externally examined at a number of universities and colleges and holds the post of Honorary Lecturer at Birmingham. He also undertakes investigative and forensic science consultancy. In 2005 Mr Knupfer was appointed consultant forensic scientist to the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) in Ireland. In 2006 this role was combined with that of senior investigating officer (SIO) to the inquiry.

Mr Knupfer is a former police officer. He completed thirty years service with Greater Manchester Police and retired in 1997 in the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent. As a career detective he served on many territorial divisions and a number of specialist departments, including Special Branch, Regional and Serious Crime Squads, Crime Policy and Scientific Services. During his career, he was awarded a Bramshill scholarship and commended on six occasions. He was subsequently awarded the MBE for ‘services to the police’.

In the course of his police service Mr Knupfer was involved in the investigation and management of a number of major and protracted investigations, including the Manchester Air Disaster and the ‘Moors Murders’. He completed his full-time career on secondment to the Home Office as head of the police advisory team at the Police Scientific Development Branch (PSDB). He was a member of PSDB’s Management Team and involved in the development of new technologies in the fields of crime investigation, forensic science and police air and marine support. He also served on a number of ACPO committees, and was a member of the (national) Major Disaster Advisory Team (MDAT)

Following retirement from the regular police service, Mr Knupfer was appointed Dean of Studies at the National Training Centre for Scientific Support for Crime Investigation (CENTREX / NPIA). In addition to being a member of the Centre’s management team, his responsibilities included the development of university qualifications in crime scene sciences and training students in major incident management and forensic ballistics.

From 2001 to 2003 he was deputy, and subsequently, director of the Centre for Applied Socio-legal studies at the University of Teesside. As well as running this (law enforcement studies) department, Mr Knupfer taught forensic science, Coroner’s law and practice and professional ethics.

Mr Knupfer has written and contributed to a number of published papers, national policy documents and books on policing and policing technologies. He co-edited the major work ‘The Encyclopaedia of Forensic Sciences’. He is a member of the Forensic Science Society and The International Association for Identification. He is also a (founder) member of the Forensic Search Advisory Group.

 

Jonathan Hill - Investigative Consultant

He previously served with the Metropolitan Police London for 30 years commencing in September 1976 and gained a number of commendations including one from the Commissioner for bravery. He was soon selected for the CID where he continued his career until retirement, over half of it working in the Serious Crime Directorate responsible for the investigation of the most serious offences such as murder, armed robbery and other organised crime. One of the many murder investigations he was engaged in involved a gang land double murder where no bodies had been found. That investigation incorporated the deployment of specialist search techniques of large open land areas utilising contract staff and heavy plant machinery. He was later part of a small team that discovered and recovered the body of a young child just over a year after she was murdered and buried covertly in woodland. The knowledge gained of these techniques and systems have continued to be of benefit in his new position. He has also been engaged in the cold case review of previously investigated crimes of the most serious nature utilising newly acquired scientific opportunities such as DNA.

The most recent position in the police service was Detective Inspector, Intelligence Manager, which entailed supervision of 37 staff tasked with the recovery, examination, analysis, and tasking of all the intelligence products available to his borough. This role has perfected his skill in information assessment, validation and reaction to it. Mr Hill performed the role of senior on call CID officer with the responsibility for the initial investigation of suspicious deaths whilst in the preliminary stages and beyond that with those not immediately identified as homicide, which would be passed to the Major Investigation Team.

Mr Hill benefits from being fully trained as an Intelligence Manager in accordance with the National Intelligence Model and has completed the following relevant courses.

Peace interview trained. He is fully conversant with the responsibilities of the Human Rights Act, The data Protection Act and RIPA having fulfilled the responsibility of Authorising Officer. Trained and qualified in the management of covert human intelligence sources (Informants). Firearms trained including Tactical advisor and Silver Commander intervention level. He has undergone advanced driving training for both cars and motor cycles and has completed some anti-hijack training. He is also vastly experienced and competent in the preparation of complex reports, case papers and court presentation.

Now with three years experience of co-ordinating and supervising these unique specialist search operations coupled with an in depth knowledge of information systems and many years exploring investigation opportunities Mr Hill is able to provide the best opportunity of achieving success.

 

Niamh McCullagh BA(Hons), MA, MSc - Forensic Archaeologist

Since then Ms. McCullagh has worked as a professional archaeologist. She has been involved in numerous projects and excavations from the preparatory stage through to the final post excavation processing. She has worked in the commercial and research sectors with contracts for universities, national heritage schemes, and European funded projects. She has specialised in the management of records though the development of databases specific to the needs of the project. During this time she has had an extended affiliation with the Archaeological Services Unit of University College Cork working on urban and rural excavations with her most recent position as Finds Supervisor. She has also been involved in managing surveys of the built heritage commissioned by local authorities. This has resulted in contributions to a number of national heritage publications.

Ms. McCullagh extended her professional skills when she graduated with an honours Master of Science in Forensic Archaeology and Crime Scene Investigation from the University of Bradford in 2007.

Ms McCullagh’s specialist areas of expertise are the search for and recovery of human remains. Her Master of Science research and thesis focussed on clandestine disposal of human remains, with particular reference to Ireland. She examined the necessity for the development of search methodologies with specific application to cold case review. Based on her studies Ms McCullagh was asked to assist in work with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) in 2007. Since then she has worked full time with the ICLVR as a Forensic Archaeologist in a team of archaeologists and search specialists with responsibility for advising forensic search strategy. During this time her primary role has been the day to day supervision of field work and management of search initiatives, the recovery of located remains and the management of associated records.  She also has responsibility for historic landscape reconstruction through sourcing historic mapping, aerial photography, and weather and geological data.

Ms McCullagh is a member of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland and the World Archaeological Congress. She is also an affiliate member of the Forensic Science Society and a member of the British Association for Human Identification.

 

Peter Barker - Consultant Geophysicist

Mr Barker is a chartered civil engineer being a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Managers (CIWEM) and the Institute for Archaeologists (IfA).

He is committed to seeing improvements in professional standards for the sectors within which Stratascan operate. To this end he is a Council member of IfA and chairman of their special interest group in geophysics. He is also a Council member of The Survey Association (TSA) and vice chairman of their technical committee.

Since establishing Stratascan in 1990 Mr Barker has been responsible for carrying out in excess of 1600 survey commissions. Being a Registered Organisation of IfA all work must be executed to exacting standards which are monitored by the Institute on a regular basis.

The company is also ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and Achilles Verify accredited further demonstrating Mr Barker’s commitment to quality.

 

Claire Graham BA (Hons) - Geophysicist

In 2007 she became a Project Officer at Stratascan Ltd and subsequently undertook this role for all of the geophysical surveys for the ICLVR. She is responsible for the collection, analysis and reporting of all of the geophysical data in order to characterise search sites an identify target areas for further investigation. She also uses GPS systems to record areas of interest and carries out topographical surveys to help with the characterisation, mapping and management of the site. Miss Graham has recently familiarised herself with the analysis and interpretation of Lidar data (airborne laser scanning) and found this to be an important tool in the characterisation and identification of search sites.

Whilst working for Stratascan Miss Graham has carried out several forensic geophysical surveys for individual police forces throughout the UK. In this, she has worked closely with the Police and Forensic Archaeologists to identify areas of interest which may be related to clandestine burials.

Miss Graham is adept in the use and interpretation of many geophysical techniques including gradiometry, earth resistance and Ground Probing Radar (GPR). She is skilled in the use of AutoCAD which is an important tool for displaying, collating and interpreting data as well as specialist geophysics software such as Geoplot and Radan.