AFOSI agents respond to death

  • Published
  • By Connie Hempel
  • 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Security forces discovered a dreadful scene the morning of July 28 at dorm 243 here. Agents from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations who responded found crammed into a dark closet of a third floor room, an airman unresponsive from what appeared to be self strangulation. During the crime scene investigation, agents shined a flashlight into the closet to assess the situation and noticed the airman slowly breathing. They immediately had patrol call 911 hoping to save his life. END EXERCISE.

During this unannounced exercise, AFOSI agents were tested on their crime scene processing skills, but what made this one different than past scenarios was the reality of it.

"This was the first exercise where we were able to use a live body," said Agent Chris Yarbrough. "Having a live person simulate the event added an element of realism."

When the three agents from AFOSI arrived on scene, security forces had the area secured, adding more realism to the incident. The agents didn't know the incident as an exercise until the 911 call was made.

"I thought it was legit; everything seemed so real," said Agent Emmanuel P. Merhan. "When we were notified of a dead body, we arrived on scene assuming he was dead, but then we saw him breathing and told patrol to get the paramedics because I thought we could still save his life."

During their investigation, agents had to be extremely detail-oriented, noting various elements like furniture placement, room temperature and which lights were on or off. Agents document the scene using photographs, video and hand sketches.

Agent Yarbrough said every death is investigated as a homicide until it's proven otherwise so they can recreate the scene.

"We may not recreate the scene in each case, but we document every detail so we can if need be," he said. "Especially in a homicide case, we want to be able to recreate the scene for a court."

Agent Yarbrough said the agents will review everything they did during the exercise from top to bottom. This review will include equipment they used or needed, to communication.

"There's always something that can be learned and that's what training's for," he said.
AFOSI agents train annually with different scenarios from the numerous crimes they investigate, said Agent Elizabeth Rocha. However, most of the time their training involves death cases so they can be evaluated on crime scene processing.

Agent Rocha is an AFOSI Forensic Science Consultant stationed at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio. She and Agent Yarbrough spent two weeks planning and coordinating the exercise.