• Katharine Pope

    FOUNDER

    Kat’s experience includes working as a Crime Scene Specialist for the Austin Police Department, a WWII casualty analyst for the Department of Defense Missing/POW Personnel Office, Forensic Anthropologist for DMORT Team II), and a Forensic Investigator in Texas, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware medical examiners’ offices. She now works for RTI International on the NamUs program. She has been happily alcohol free since February 2021!

    Kat lives with her husband and two kids in Salisbury, MD. She is the daughter of a firefighter and ER nurse (turned school nurse). She is the sister of a US Army veteran (retired) working as a medical librarian. She is the wife of a teacher.

    “I believe that public service is a calling. I want to help our fields become more accessible for students and professionals so we can do the job to the best of our ability.“

    BA, Colorado College in Psychology and Anthropology

    MA, Texas State University - San Marcos in Forensic Anthropology

    Registered, American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators

    Fellow, American Academy of Forensic Sciences Anthropology Section

    Chair, Board of Directors, Society of Forensic Anthropologists

  • Forensic Found's

    Manifesto

Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification

Identifying unknown human remains requires the strategic use of investigative techniques and scientific methods. This includes utilizing various forensic methods to gather the decedent’s biometrics, collecting familial reference samples for comparison, and inputting available information into comprehensive databases to facilitate connections to cases nationwide and internationally. These efforts can help bring closure to families, identify victims of mass disasters, and find missing persons. Listen along as our guests detail techniques for human identification including forensic genetic genealogy, postmortem fingerprinting, forensic anthropology, and forensic art, as well as the application of comprehensive databases to casework.

 

Watch a clip from my interview with American Anthropological Association

“Death doesn't happen nine to five, Monday through Friday. It happens all of the time.” Katharine Pope is a death investigator and a forensic anthropologist with the State of Delaware's Division of Forensic Science. In determining the cause and manner of death, it is her job to ask the right questions, changing the tone and language to accommodate everyone from law enforcement officials to family members to doctors. “The good thing about an anthropology degree is that it provides you with a broad overview of human behavior. I do this job because it's respectful to the person and their family and helps provide the closure they need.”