Charleston County Coroner's Office, 4050 Bridgeview Drive, Perimeter Center, Suite 500, North Charleston, SC, USA.
Forensic Sci Int. 2013 Sep 10;231(1-3):399.e1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2013.05.034. Epub 2013 Jun 24.
In the discovery of human remains from water environments, manner of death may not be immediately obvious to medicolegal investigators due to several factors, including lack of associated material evidence, nondescript contextual environment, or possible poor preservation of remains due to delayed recovery. The determination of patterns of skeletal trauma in suicidal bridge jumpers assists investigators in determining whether the manner of death was suicide versus non-suicide. This study reports on the patterns of skeletal trauma sustained in individuals who jumped from one of four large bridges in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and explores victim demographics, bridge height, position of the body upon impact, and velocity at impact on skeletal trauma for this suicide population. Data for all bridge jumpers were collected from coroner files spanning the years 1990-2011. Skeletal trauma is more heavily focused in the thorax/ribs (63%) and craniofacial (30%) regions. Fifty-six percent of jumpers sustained polytrauma. Comparative data on drowning victims, bodies recovered from boating/airplane accidents, and individuals who died by other suicidal means all show patterns of injury different than bridge jumpers.
在水环境中发现人类遗骸时，由于多种因素，包括缺乏相关物证、描述不清的环境背景或由于延迟打捞导致遗骸保存状况不佳等，法医学调查人员可能无法立即确定死亡方式。确定自杀式桥跳者的骨骼创伤模式有助于调查人员确定死亡方式是自杀还是非自杀。本研究报告了在南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿港的四座大桥之一上跳下的人的骨骼创伤模式，并探讨了受害者人口统计学、桥梁高度、撞击时的身体位置和撞击速度对自杀人群的骨骼创伤的影响。1990 年至 2011 年期间，所有桥跳者的数据均从验尸官档案中收集。骨骼创伤主要集中在胸部/肋骨（63%）和头面部（30%）区域。56%的跳桥者遭受多发伤。溺水受害者、从船只/飞机事故中打捞的尸体以及其他自杀方式死亡的个体的比较数据显示，其受伤模式与桥跳者不同。
