Mental health is a worldwide crisis, but it couldn’t get closer to home. As a former death investigator for the state of Oklahoma, I can tell you I worked an average of one to four suicides on any given shift. Too often on these scenes I would read suicide notes that depicted the individual had […]
Sarah Atwood-Cotton
Posted inArts & Culture
The Toe Tag: Script Notes
Leave it to Martin Scorsese to take a relatively obscure series of murders from a century ago and bring them into sharp focus. Until the last few years, not many have heard of what were called both the “Osage Indian trials” and the “Reign of Terror” that took place in right here in Oklahoma. Officially, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Toe Tag: Bee Aware
K9 officers are well-known resources in law enforcement for finding bombs and drugs fleeing criminals, while cadaver dogs are indispensable partners with their capacity to help find deceased individuals, but what if I told you honey bees can be trained to serve a similar function? Enter Megan Ladish, honey bee charmer extraordinaire. Ladish, a second-year […]
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The Toe Tag: Put your finger on it.
Fingerprinting has come a long way since the days of the detective with his trusty magnifying glass. Made up of friction ridges in skin found on fingers, toes, palms and feet, they are unique to the individual. Even identical twins have different fingerprints. Ours are developed during the first trimester of pregnancy by the baby’s […]
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The Toe Tag: Death and the CSI Effect
To say there’s been a huge surge in crime shows is an understatement. Many popular television shows such as the American classics CSI and Law and Order have given a glimpse into what viewers believe to be realistic crime investigations, but many fail to show factual application of forensic science applications and its interplay with […]
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The Toe Tag: Respecting the dead
When I became a death investigator, I had to learn a lot, not just in the field of forensics but the specific beliefs and religious practices that exist amongst denominations in Oklahoma. I am not religious, but the intersection of death and religious practices has always fascinated me. Oklahoma is a melting pot of religion […]
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The Toe Tag
The University of Central Oklahoma’s Forensic Science Institute has been tasked in helping determine whether or not a purse belongs to one of America’s most infamous outlaws. The purse was donated to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum under the pretense that it possibly once belonged to Bonnie Parker. Together with her partner-in-crime, Clyde […]
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The Toe Tag: Death and diatoms
Did you know that types of algae can be used to help link victims (and suspects) to death scenes in and near bodies of water because of their unique groupings? Forensic limnology is the study of freshwater ecology, in a legal setting. More specifically, it is the study of diatoms. But what are diatoms and […]
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The Toe Tag: The Last Responder
Now that I’ve told you a couple of Oklahoma stories about death, it’s only fair to share my own. What I do is not for everyone. It’s not even for a select few. I graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with my double bachelor’s degree in forensic science and criminal justice in 2011. Through […]
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The Toe Tag: Oklahoma’s Serial Killer Granny
Have you ever wondered why violent, suspicious, unusual, and unnatural deaths are investigated in Oklahoma? It all started in 1955 when Nannie Doss, a 50-year-old woman, confessed to killing eleven family members. Four of her husbands, two of her children, two grandchildren, her mother-in-law, and her own mother and sister met their ends at her […]