Analysis of hair collected from putrefied or skeletal bodies is always complex and must take into account several pitfalls, such as external contamination and contamination by biological fluids. This work presents a case of particular complexity. A skeletonized body was discovered on a country road. A tuft of brown hair, detached from the scalp, irregular in length, non-oriented, in contact with soil and vegetation, was removed. An anthropological examination was carried out and genetic samples were taken from the right femoral shaft. After about 10 washes with warm water and dichloromethane, the tuft of hair was analyzed without segmentation. General unknown screening was performed by liquid chromatography system coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) after incubation in pH 9.5 borate buffer and liquid–liquid extraction. Specific Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) methods for date rape drugs were carried out by liquid chromatography system coupled to a tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The anthropological examination allowed to determine that the victim was a female individual, over 60 years old, the death dating from 3 months to 1 year. Comparison of the DNA results with the Missing Persons Index led to the identification, a 60-year-old woman who disappeared 5 months earlier. Hair analysis showed the presence of oxazepam (361 pg/mg), nordiazepam (54 pg/mg), and alimemazine (5 pg/mg). The interpretation of these concentrations is extremely difficult due to the risk of degradation of the hair cuticle during prolonged stay in the soil, as well as of contamination by putrefactive fluids. The authors discuss the value of using multiple biological and non-biological matrices in this context to improve the interpretation of the results.

中文翻译：

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尸检调查中的头发分析：骷髅尸体案例

对从腐烂或骨骼中收集的毛发进行分析总是很复杂，并且必须考虑到一些缺陷，例如外部污染和生物体液污染。这项工作提出了一个特别复杂的案例。在乡间小路上发现了一具骷髅尸体。一簇棕色头发，从头皮上脱落，长度不规则，无方向，与土壤和植被接触，被除去。进行了人类学检查，并从右股骨干中采集了基因样本。用温水和二氯甲烷洗涤约10次后，对头发簇进行分析而不进行分割。在 pH 9.5 硼酸盐缓冲液中孵育和液液萃取后，通过液相色谱系统与高分辨率质谱 (LC-HRMS) 进行一般未知筛选。通过液相色谱系统与串联质谱法 (LC-MS/MS) 联用，对约会强奸药物进行了特定的多反应监测 (MRM) 方法。经人类学检验，死者为女性，60多岁，死亡时间为3个月至1年。通过DNA结果与失踪人口指数的比对，确认身份为一名5个月前失踪的60岁女性。头发分析显示存在奥沙西泮 (361 pg/mg)、去甲西泮 (54 pg/mg) 和阿利马嗪 (5 pg/mg)。由于头发角质层在土壤中长期停留期间存在降解以及腐败液体污染的风险，因此对这些浓度的解释极其困难。作者讨论了在这种情况下使用多种生物和非生物基质来改善结果解释的价值。