Human remains, later named “Madame Victoria”, were discovered in 2001 near the Royal Victoria hospital in Montreal but were never identified by forensic practitioners. We use multi-isotope hair profiles to investigate Madame Victoria’s travel and diet history. Based on carbon isotope abundances, Madame Victoria had a stable diet and values typical of eastern Canada. Nitrogen isotope ratios are more positive than average Canadians, and increase sharply over the last two months of her life, likely reflecting a rapid health deterioration. Hydrogen isotope abundances are typical of eastern Canada, and become stepwise more positive throughout the hair profile. Based on hydrogen isotope data, Madame Victoria moved progressively from either a western Ontario or northern Quebec locality towards Montreal over the last 3 years of her life stopping multiple times along the way. The strontium isotope ratios are constant throughout the hair profile and equal to the isotopic value of the soil exchangeable strontium at the site where the body was discovered. This observation, combined with hair major and trace elemental data, indicates that strontium from soil diffused and replaced the original hair strontium post-mortem. This study shows the interest of multi-isotope hair profiles to focus investigations on cold cases but also underlines the need for further work to take advantage of metal and metal isotope data.

人体遗体，后来命名为“维多利亚夫人”，于2001年在蒙特利尔皇家维多利亚医院附近被发现，但从未被法医鉴定。我们使用多同位素的头发特征来调查维多利亚夫人的旅行和饮食史。基于碳同位素丰度，维多利亚夫人的饮食稳定，具有加拿大东部的典型价值观。氮同位素比值比一般加拿大人更正，并且在她生命的最后两个月急剧增加，这可能反映出健康状况迅速恶化。氢同位素丰度是加拿大东部的典型特征，并且在整个头发中逐渐变得更加阳性。根据氢同位素数据，维多利亚夫人一生中的最后三年，从安大略省西部或魁北克北部地区逐步迁移到蒙特利尔。锶同位素比率在整个头发中都是恒定的，等于发现人体的土壤中可交换锶的同位素值。该观察结果与头发主要成分和微量元素数据相结合，表明土壤中的锶扩散并替代了死后的原始头发锶。这项研究表明了对多同位素头发轮廓的关注，以便将研究重点放在感冒病例上，同时也强调了需要开展进一步工作以利用金属和金属同位素数据的需求。锶同位素比率在整个头发中都是恒定的，等于发现人体的土壤中可交换锶的同位素值。该观察结果与头发主要成分和微量元素数据相结合，表明土壤中的锶扩散并替代了死后的原始头发锶。这项研究表明了对多同位素头发轮廓的关注，以便将研究重点放在感冒病例上，同时也强调了需要开展进一步工作以利用金属和金属同位素数据的需求。锶同位素比率在整个头发中都是恒定的，等于发现人体的土壤中可交换锶的同位素值。该观察结果与头发主要成分和微量元素数据相结合，表明土壤中的锶扩散并替代了死后的原始头发锶。这项研究表明了对多同位素头发轮廓的关注，以便将研究重点放在感冒病例上，同时也强调了需要开展进一步工作以利用金属和金属同位素数据的需求。