Arpad Vass

Arpad Alexander Vass (born August 30, 1959) is a forensic anthropologist. He formerly taught at the Law Enforcement Innovation Center, which is part of the University of Tennessee's Institute for Public Service.

Vass is the son of a Hungarian immigrant. He grew up in Arlington, Virginia, where he graduated from Yorktown High School in 1977. He is married to Victoria Ann Longo and they have two sons.

Education and research

In 1980, Vass obtained the Antarctic Exploration certification from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The following year, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Virginia Tech. In 1984, Vass earned a Medical Technology degree from Fairfax Hospital. He earned a Masters of Science degree in Forensic Science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989, and he obtained his PhD from the University of Tennessee in anthropology.

Vass is developing a forensic science technique called "decomposition odor analysis", or "DOA", which he claims will help to identify the over 400 body vapors which emanate from a decaying and decomposing human body. A database of such vapors would in theory enable the Federal Bureau of Investigation's search teams and cadaver dogs (Human Remains Detection dogs) to detect the location of remains of human beings. The database is a part of the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility.

Vass claims without evidence that he is developing a forensic tool to help detect and uncover forensic cases. Vass has put forward a proposal to search out human remains with the use of a fly with a tracking chip. He has also claimed that dowsing rods can be used to find corpses. . Dr. Monte Miller of the UTK Forensic Anthropology Dept. has stated, "Most of us in the field believe Vass is making claims he cannot possibly back up with science."

Selected publications

• Vass, Arpad A (November 2001). "Beyond the grave – understanding human decomposition" (PDF). Microbiology Today. 28. Spencers Wood: Society for General Microbiology: 190–192. ISSN 1464-0570.
• Vass, Arpad A; et al. (September 1992). "Time since death determinations of human cadavers using soil solution". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 37 (5): 1236–1253. doi:10.1520/JFS13311J. ISSN 0022-1198. PMID 1402750.
• Vass, Arpad A; et al. (May 2002). "Decomposition chemistry of human remains: a new methodology for determining the postmortem interval". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 47 (3): 542–553. doi:10.1520/JFS15294J. ISSN 0022-1198. PMID 12051334.

See also

• Forensic entomological decomposition

References

External links

• Curriculum Vitae for Arpad Vass
• Anthropology Dissertation of Arpad Vass