TORONTO -- Some of the bodies will be buried in shallow graves. Some will be left in vehicles. Others, still, will be placed on the ground outside, exposed to the elements.
In all of the scenarios, the human bodies will be meticulously studied by forensic scientists on a daily basis to see how they decompose in their various states.
鈥淥ur team goes out there every single day to understand how decomposition is occurring in those different environments and that鈥檚 how we get a better understanding of time since death by studying these over weeks, months, and even years,鈥� Shari Forbes, the director of the Secure Site for Research in Thanatology, or the 鈥渂ody farm,鈥� told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Friday.
The body farm is located in Becancour, near Trois-Rivieres, Que., and is an outdoor facility where donated dead bodies are left outside to decay so forensic scientists can learn about decomposition.
The scientists will monitor how the bodies decompose in different temperatures, how cadaver dogs pick up the scent of human remains, how long fingerprints, DNA, and teeth can be recovered, and how the life stages of the insects that eat and lay eggs on the bodies can help to determine the time of death. That knowledge is then passed on to police.
鈥淲e intend that it will be used by police in forensic services so we want to make sure our research improves the way we search for victims, how we recover and identify them, and estimating time since death,鈥� Forbes explained.
The facility is expected to open in the spring and will be Canada鈥檚 first body farm.
While there are other body farms located in other countries, such as the U.S., Australia, and the Netherlands, Forbes said the new one in Quebec will be unique because of the country鈥檚 climate.
鈥淢ost facilities are located in very warm climates and in Canada, in particular Quebec, for six months of the year that simply doesn鈥檛 apply to us,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e particularly interested in understanding what happens when a body is in sub-zero temperatures, when there鈥檚 a lot of snow on the ground, and how that freeze and then the thaw process might actually change the rate of decomposition compared to what we鈥檇 see in these other facilities.鈥�
In order to ensure their research is useful for investigations, Forbes said they work closely with police and forensic services to understand what they need for certain cases. She said they ask what scenarios are most common and they鈥檒l recreate those scenes. Sometimes, she said police will ask them to recreate a very specific scene for a case they鈥檙e working on.
鈥淎ll of our research is dictated by what the police and forensic services need,鈥� she said.
As for where the bodies come from, Forbes said they鈥檙e all donated to the facility.
鈥淧eople donate for a variety of reasons, whether that鈥檚 altruism, for an environmental focus, or simply because they love watching 鈥楥SI,鈥� but all of our donors know exactly what they鈥檙e contributing to,鈥� she said.
Anyone interested in donating their bodies to the facility .
