Investigators are often haunted by the things they’ve witnessed while retrieving bodies. Medicolegal death investigator Joseph Scott Morgan knows this feeling well.
Snakes, flies and alligators can be a nightmare come true for forensic experts trying to recover a body from ponds, rivers and swamps.
“I might have to crawl beneath a house to examine that body or out into the swamps of southern Louisiana. You have to be prepared mentally to address any kind of issue that might come up at that moment,” Morgan told Crime Insiders.
Forensic expert Morgan tells true stories about encountering alligators at crime scenes on the latest episode of Crime Insiders:
Alligators aren’t good at chewing, Morgan explained. Once a gator hunts, captures and kills they’ll often store their prey in the water and let it decompose before eating.
In alligator territory, it’s not uncommon to find the predators near bodies floating in water.
“Snakes love bodies. You’ll find them adjacent to them, particularly with skeletal remains. I’ve encountered timber rattlers that are called about to strike,” Morgan said.
Morgan said he was terrified of alligators and often cautious about venomous snakes – but what kept him up at night was flies.
“I had a reoccurring nightmare that just plagued me for years. And it was flies,” Morgan told Crime Insiders.
Flies are often the first creature to find a dead body; this is because they can trace the smell of decomposition.
“You wake up from a fitful night, a nightmare, and you’re fanning flies away… These things you take with you that you can’t unsee if you will. It can be quite damaging,” he said.
Subscribe to Crime Insiders, taking you beyond true crime. In groundbreaking interviews, explore the world of policing and forensics through stories from the world’s most experienced and decorated experts.