Integrating Microbial Profiling and Machine Learning for Inference of Drowning Sites: A Forensic Investigation in the Northwest River

Drowning incidents present significant challenges for forensic investigators in determining the exact site of occurrence. Traditional forensic methods often rely on physical evidence and circumstantial clues, but the emerging field of forensic microbiology offers a promising avenue for enhancing precision and reliability in site inference. Our study investigates the application of microbiome analysis in inferring drowning sites, focusing on microbial diversity in water samples and lung tissues of drowned animals from different sites in the Northwest River. We utilized 16S rDNA sequencing to analyze microbial diversity in water samples and lung tissues, revealing distinct microbial signatures associated with drowning sites.