All that Remains:

Visualizing Unidentified Decedents using the FLCC Geodatabase

Bomin Koh

bominkoh@mail.usf.eduPh.D. Student in Environmental Science and Policy,

University of South Florida

Co-authors: Matt Bauld, Sara Chlebecek, Chelsea Fugate, Sean McNulty, Dan Meder, Aron Stencel, and Dr. Elizabeth Walton

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▫ Average 750,000 missing persons per year across the United States

▫ As many as 100,000 active missing persons and unidentified human remains cases a day

▫ More than 40,000 sets of unidentified human remains in the evidence rooms of medical examiners

Introduction

MISSING

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▫ No centralized database in Florida that provides a comprehensive, accessible, and searchable database for those trying to locate and/or identify missing persons

Introduction

MISSING

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▫ Group Project: Spatial Database Development course at USF

▫ Designed & created geodatabase using data mining and geocoding

▫ Recorded 745 unidentified decedents in Florida from FLUIDDB & other Internet sources

Working Solution

MISSING

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1. Apply methods learned in class to create a geodatabase of the records found

2. Visualize the data in an online mapping format

3. Use spatial analyses to locate areas having greater density of victim locations and their correlation to major roads

We hope this will be beneficial to legal agencies & public

Project Goals

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1. Logical Model of Geodatabase

2. Data Mining Techniques

3. Additional Internet Sources

4. Geocoding

5. Create the Geodatabase

6. Load the Geodatabase

7. Visualizing the Data

8. Analyzing the Data

9. Reporting Project Results & Future Research

Materials &

Methods

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Searchable fields for public access:▫ Hair color▫ Hair texture▫ Hair length▫ Eye color▫ Dental▫ Circumcised▫ Mustache▫ Beard▫ Tattoos▫ Jewelry

Creating the Geodatabase

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Data Mining Techniques

• For each entry, used Excel equation to populate first 5 fields

• The rest: scraped data using custom Python script for each individual page

Extracted with Excel

Custom Python Script

FLUID Database Scrub

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Data Mining Techniques

• County records of unidentified remains & unsolved crimes

• Sheriff’s Office Websites -Unsolved Crimes

• Various Cold Case Websites: ▫ NamUs▫ Florida Department of Law

Enforcement (FDLE) ▫ Missing Endangered Persons

Information Clearinghouse ▫ FL Medical Examiners Commission

Additional Sources

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Google Earth

• Manually geolocated points using Google Earth

• Locations “along Alligator Alley” were identified by mile marker or exit number

• Used Google Maps Street View to “walk” the road and find nearest exit signs

• Cases with locations that could not be geolocated were removed

Geocoding

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• US Census TIGER/Line data: state, county, & urban area boundary shapefiles

• Florida DOT Database: state roads, interstate, & ramps

Creating the Base Map

ArcGIS Online▫ ArcGIS online employed to

visualize locations of FLCC and

for access by public

Visualizing the Data

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61% found in urban areasHighest 4 areas:

▫ Miami (225),

▫ Tampa—St. Petersburg (51),

▫ Orlando (36),

▫ Jacksonville (22)

Unidentified Decedents Locations

417

38

290

Location Distribution

UrbanizedArea

UrbanCluster

Rural

Analyzing the Data

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• Miami urbanized area is a hot spot with 99% confidence level (CL)

• Few cold spot areas with 90% CL (Palm Bay—Melbourne, and Sebastian —Vero Beach South—Florida Ridge)

• Mostly, not significant

Hot Spot Analysis

0 1

22

219

1 5

65

Number of Fishnet Cells (100 km2)

Cold Spot - 99% Confidence

Cold Spot - 95% Confidence

Cold Spot - 90% Confidence

Not Significant

Hot Spot - 90% Confidence

Hot Spot - 95% Confidence

Hot Spot - 99% Confidence

Analyzing the Data

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Hot Spots – Miami Urban Area

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1515

Cold Spots: Palm Bay—Melbourne, Sebastian—Vero

Beach—Florida Ridge

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Not Significant: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando

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Not Significant: Palm Coast, Daytona Beach, Port Orange,

Jacksonville, Gainesville,

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Proximity Analysis▫ Analyzed distance from unidentified

remains to nearest interstate or state highway ramps

▫ 61% (n = 451) of decedents were located within 5km from major highway ramp

155

296109

153

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Proximity Analysis Result

Less than 1km

Greater than 1km & Lessthan 5kmGreater than 5km & Lessthan 10kmGreater than 10km & Lessthan 50kmGreater than 50km

Analyzing the Data

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▫ FLCC Geodatabase: ▫ Compilation of 745 unidentified

Florida decedent records, stored in a comprehensive database

▫ Visualization▫ “Map of Florida Cold Cases” was

created to visualize the cold cases geodatabase with state, county, & urban area boundaries, & state, interstate, & ramp features

Project Results and Future Research

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▫ Esri online map created to visualize location and make data accessible to law enforcement agencies and the public

▫ Analyzation▫ Hot Spot Analysis▫ Proximity analysis to major

roads

Project Results and Future Research

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▫ Ritter, N. (2007, January). Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains: The Nation's Silent Mass Disaster. National Institute of Justice, 256.

▫ Kepple, K., Epstein, M., Grisham, L (2014, September). By the numbers: Missing persons in the USA. USA Today Network.

▫ NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics for 2014. National Crime Information Center.

Resources and References

Thank you. Questions?

Bomin Kohbominkoh@mail.usf.edu

Ph.D. Student in Environmental Science and Policy, University of South Florida