Forensics - Accident and Crime Scene Investigation

CASE STUDY: Searching for Evidence

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) Recovery Team called in VideoRay to search an underwater area at the Yacht Harbor Marina in Austin, Texas. A fire there on December 16, 2000, damaged boats belonging to President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans.

Sending the VideoRay to recover items of possible value to the investigation eliminated risks to divers, keeping them from entangling in cables and steel supports and preventing dive hazards such as hypothermia, drowning, decompression, and accidental injury.

The VideoRay scoped out the cold, dark waters of Lake Travis in depths from 60 to 70 feet, accessing areas where divers would have likely stirred up the bottom. In just five minutes from launch of the VideoRay, the first items of possible value to the investigation were located and retrieved with the VideoRay's manipulator arm.

Related articles:

• "Opening Davy Jones Locker -- Very Carefully" VideoRay featured in Popular Science November 2004 issue
• In Commercial Diver International's November 2004 issue, "Micro-ROVs Overcome Diver Safety Concerns."
• VideoRay Pro III Helps Locate Missing Diver in Scotland
• VideoRay Underwater Robot Helps Recover Thrust Reverser Lost from Space Shuttle Trainer Jet
• VideoRay with SeaSprite sonar quickly locates drowning victimin frozen Wisconsin waters
• VideoRay Part of High-Tech Body Search, from THE JOURNAL NEWS
• VideoRay Swimming Robot Records Video of Crash Site of DC-3 Plane Shot Down in 1952
• "Alert Diver" Magazine Highlights Role of ROVs in Hazardous Environments
• VideoRay Locates Snowmobile Driver’s Body in Frigid Waters After Diver’s Search Suspended
• VideoRay Underwater Robot Identifies Boat Roof in Baltimore Water Taxi Crash
• VideoRay Swimming Robot Records Video of Crash Site of DC-3 Plane Shot Down in 1952
• VideoRay Purchased for Homeland Security and Inspecting Underwater Crime Scenes in Minnesota’s Great Lakes Region
• Swimming Video Camera Helps BATF Search Underwater Without Divers
• Read B29 pilot's account of Lake Mead wreck exploration.
• VideoRay Swimming Video Camera Explores B-29 Bomber in Lake Mead
• Dress and Remains Videoed by VideoRay ROV Advances 1929 Mystery in Lake Crescent
• Florida State University Underwater Crime Scene Investigation Program Puts VideoRay on the Case
• VideoRay purchased to search for Space Shuttle Columbia debris.
• VideoRay to Search for Submarine Sunken in Half Moon Bay, CA, in 1945

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Related sites:

• Florida State University's Underwater Crime Scene Investigation Program is training a new generation of investigators using the latest technologies. VideoRay is a critical tool in their crime detection arsenal. http://www.fsu.com/pages/2003/10/01/ucsi.html
  
  

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Suggested Configurations

For forensic studies and search and rescue operations, we recommend the VideoRay Pro III, with:

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