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How a Patch of Moss Helped Cops Bust a Grave Robbing Ring

Remember this next time you underestimate a botanist.

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According to a study published in Forensic Science Research, a small clump of moss helped cops expose a big grave robbing operation at Burr Oak Cemetery near Chicago. That little patch of green fuzz helped secure convictions against four cemetery workers.

The study was published recently, but it’s about a case that dates back to 2009, when investigators found evidence that employees had been digging up older graves, relocating the remains, and reselling the burial plots. Prosecutors later determined that roughly 1500 bones from these 29 people were disturbed and reburied in some other spot on the grounds.

Exhausting every resource possible, the FBI brought in Matt von Konrat, a botanist from Chicago’s Field Museum. von Konrat analyzed a tiny piece of moss found buried along with some relocated remains. He identified it as Fissidens taxifolius, more commonly known as pocket moss.

It was a small, seemingly insignificant discovery, but one that broke the case wide open. That moss wasn’t growing where the remains were found. It was growing in a different part of the cemetery, which made the investigators immediately suspect it was from that individual’s original burial site.

The Moss Acted as Both a Time Capsule and an Apple AirTag

So that connection established that there was some movement. When that movement occurred was another matter entirely. In court, the defense argued that the disturbance predated the worker’s employment. An easy argument to make when you know the prosecution can prove movement, but not when it happened.

The prosecution, however, had a trick up its sleeve. Scientists turned back to the moss, this time to its chemistry. Chlorophyll degrades over time. By measuring how the pigment absorbed light and comparing it to known samples, researchers estimated the moss was only one to two years old. That’s a timeline that fits the disturbance of this moss squarely within the defendants’ time at the cemetery.

The moss acted as both a time capsule and an Apple AirTag, leading to the conviction of the cemetery workers in 2015, who were found guilty of desecrating human remains. Forensic sciences have gotten so good that it’s genuinely a shock that people even attempt to commit crimes anymore. If the DNA evidence doesn’t seal your fate, a stupid little piece of moss you never noticed surely will.

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