Postmortem Analysis in Drowning-Related Death Determination: Application of the “Diatom Test” in the Forensic Field in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Microscopic signs are not specific only to drowning, but to any other type of suffocation, the background of which is mechanical obstruction. What about cases where there are no soft tissues when he has a skeletal body? This pilot research aims to examine for the first time the attendance of diatoms in teeth and bones, with regard to the peripheral vascularization of bones and teeth, in the Bosnia River. The thirty rats were divided into groups: Group A (n = 6; autopsy—1 hour after death; cause of death-hanging); Group B (n = 6; autopsy—72 hours after death; cause of death-hanging); Group C (n = 6; autopsy—immediately after drowning; cause of death-drowning); Group D (n = 6; autopsy—24 hours after drowning; cause of death-drowning) and Group E (n = 6; autopsy—72 hours after drowning; cause of death-drowning). In Group D and Group E, diatoms were found in one rat per group. By optimizing the “Diatom Test” in experimental settings, it could potentially become a routine method in the future. This is just the initial research that leads us toward optimizing testing and taking samples in cases of uncleared etiology, when there are no preserved soft tissue structures for autopsy.