A new forensic research facility being developed at Western Carolina University will be located on a 344-acre tract of university-owned property west of N.C. 107.

The facility will help prepare students for careers in forensics, enhance the skills of law enforcement officials statewide, and assist local police and sheriff’s departments with crime scene investigations.

Only the second of its kind in the United States, the forensics facility is part of WCU’s growing academic programs in forensic anthropology and forensic science. Patterned after a similar facility at the University of Tennessee, Western’s forensic research station is designed to help scientists determine how the unique geography and climate of the Western North Carolina mountains influence postmortem decay.

North Carolina’s chief medical examiner says the facility will add to the forensic data gained from the work of Dr. Bill Bass at the nationally known research center at Knoxville. “Dr. Bass’ Tennessee facility has contributed to our understanding of this important process and aided death investigators around the country in more accurately estimating postmortem interval in human remains,” said Dr. John D. Butts, chief medical examiner for the state. “Studies out of a Western Carolina facility could help to determine whether there are any substantial differences in these processes in other geographic areas, which could prove helpful in the training of death investigators in this important area.”

“Through the study of skeletal remains, forensic anthropologists can help law enforcement officials determine the time of a person’s death, which is a vital step in determining the cause of death,” said Williams, one of only 58 board-certified forensic anthropologists in the United States. “The ultimate goal is to help law enforcement officers in Western North Carolina work toward the speedy solution of homicides or accidental death investigations.”

Research at the new station will be conducted in conjunction with the university’s existing Western Carolina Human Identification Laboratory, a fully equipped, 1,100-square-foot facility dedicated to the recovery, storage and analysis of human remains.