7 ms·

Shoe prints lead FBI to suspect couple involved in multiple New Mexico wildfires

63 points by geox 2y ago

shadowtree 2y ago
[flagged]
- UseofWeapons1 2y ago
  Important to note that despite being started by humans, those fires are still made larger and exacerbated by climate change. Not to say you’re implying against that, just clarifying.
  - pvaldes 2y ago
    ...despite being started at the same time in 15 different locations by humans, in the most windy and hot night of the year, the wildfire got surprisingly big
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  It's both. That 85% includes accidents, it's not all arson. > According to the National Park Service, nearly 85% of wildland fires in the U.S. are caused by human activities, such as unattended campfires, debris burning, equipment malfunctions and arson. Severe heat, which persists across the country in dangerous waves, can also fuel wildfires. Climate change easily makes little accidents more likely to turn into big ones. Hotter, dryer, windier, etc. means that little spark from your campfire winds up sparking a fire.
  - JohnMakin 2y ago
    > Climate change easily makes little accidents more likely to turn into big ones. precisely - when climate tips ground temps close to ignition points it does not take much to spark a huge conflagration, even if the source is human.
    - dylan604 2y ago
      Where have temps ever reached a point close to ignition points? Quick search says hottest temp ever on Earth was 135°F/56.7°C in Death Valley. Another quick search doesn't show specific grass/leaf ignition points, and I've spent more time on it already that I probably should have, but not 0 effort.
      - rurp 2y ago
        Temperature records are generally recorded in a controlled way for consistent readings using the same height, shade, etc. There have certainly been points on the earth that have gotten hotter than the official record. Whether that's enough to cause plants to spontaneously combust though, I have no idea.
      - lazide 2y ago
        Those are air temperatures in the shade. Direct sunlight gets much hotter, and in Death Valley for instance you can get third degree burns walking on sand dunes (not even black sand!) [https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/a-man-got-third-degree-burns-walking-on-blazing-hot-sand-dunes-in-death-val/?ref=TSM https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/a-man-got-third-d...] [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weather_records#:~:text=The%20theoretical%20maximum%20possible%20ground,soils%20of%20low%20thermal%20conductivity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weather_records#:~:t....] Furnace creek had a measured ground temp of 201F not that long ago. That’s a lot closer to flash point than air temp. And localized reflections can easily boost that.
      - JohnMakin 2y ago
        > Where have temps ever reached a point close to ignition points? California wild fires are often triggered by chaparral combusting, helped by high ground temperatures, which are not the same as air temperatures and can be much, much hotter.
  - thegrim33 2y ago
    I don't know why you wouldn't just post the numbers, but here they are, from the data from the link: Arson-caused: 320,814 Human-caused non-arson: 1,046,983 Natural-caused: 327,319 (Ignoring all fires classified as unknown/unspecified cause). So, there's as many arson caused fires as natural caused fires, and three times as many non-arson fires from human activities as from arson fires. Make of that what you will.
    - ceejayoz 2y ago
      Even with arson, climate change makes arson-started fires worse. Ignition is only part of the story of the fire; climate change impacts the spread in a variety of ways.
      - jonhohle 2y ago
        I’ve previously read that in certain states (California) forestry services no longer maintain forests to avoid serious wildfire conditions.[0][1] Somewhat ironically, while blaming climate change for the problem instead of dealing with the problem, the amount of pollution from mismanagement exacerbates the amount of CO2 released. 0 - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1243599 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1243599 1 - https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadas-burning-because-of-bad-forest-policy-not-climate-change https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadas-burning-because-of-...
        ceejayoz 2y ago
        I'm entirely onboard with "humans are fucking the entire system up in multiple interrelated ways".
        Blackcatmaxy 2y ago
        This is actually a bit of a political debate, there are those who believe that letting the undergrowth burn will be better long term for forest health and reducing the severity of wildfires. https://www.kqed.org/science/1134217/let-it-burn-the-forest-service-wants-to-stop-putting-out-some-fires https://www.kqed.org/science/1134217/let-it-burn-the-forest-... https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/29/opinion/sunday/california-wildfires-forest-management.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/29/opinion/sunda...
- ceedan 2y ago
  Nothing conspiratorial about that, except for your mindset. Smokey the Bear has been informing us about wild fires for 80 years now…
- snakeyjake 2y ago
  Climate change cannot start a wildfire. Only lightning strikes and humans can. (or volcanos but not a lot of them around the US) Climate change can, and does depending on the nature of the change, increase the risk of wildfires. Also bears playing with matches. edit: It is possible for a large mound of organic debris like a mound of animals that got killed by lighting and then rapidly covered and then decomposed by really vigorous microorganisms to spontaneously ignite but that would be so rare in a world without humans heaping up big piles of the stuff as to be irrelevant.
  - svieira 2y ago
    > but that would be so rare in a world without humans heaping up big piles of the stuff Hogs will heap up lots of organic debris and sleep in it, choosing strategically where to urinate in order to increase or decrease the heat emitted by the pile. > The distinctive “pigloos” the animals build consist of mounds of cattails, which they cut down and burrow into, capturing enough heat to steam on cold days, Brook explains. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/huge-feral-hogs-swine-spreading-through-north-canada https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/huge-fera... and https://feralhogs.extension.org/signs-of-presence/#:~:text=Feral%20hogs%20build%20farrowing%20nests,be%20difficult%20to%20tell%20apart https://feralhogs.extension.org/signs-of-presence/#:~:text=F.... > Farrowing nests are rooted-out areas typically round to oval in shape (Figure 8). Nests range in size from 3 to 8 feet long, 2 to 7 feet wide, and 2 to 7 inches deep. Sows excavate these shallow depressions for giving birth to their young. Sows line the nests using readily-available material in close proximity, or some nests are unlined. Nests found in colder or open habitats are more elaborate than those found in warmer or forested habitats. Elaborate nests can have dome-like covers made of vegetation piled to 4-feet high.
- avalys 2y ago
  That’s confusing the issue a bit. Or, if you prefer, you are arguing against a strawman. The claim is not that climate change “causes” fires (how would that even work, exactly?) The claim is that the conditions that allow these fires to grow explosively and do so much damage are due in part to climate change. Without climate change, we’d still have human-caused fires, but their effect would not be so severe. I take no position on this claim, but this is how it is typically advanced.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    Please be careful with fire around that strawman. He'll go up in flames very quickly
  - newshoes 2y ago
    [flagged]
- burnished 2y ago
  I thought this was due to mismanagement and accumulation of what amounts to tinder in public parks by suppressing all fires for over a hundred years?
- newshoes 2y ago
  Yeah! I mean, sure, someone dumped gasoline everywhere, and continues to do so and then deny it's a problem, and millions of people keep voting to dump gasoline everywhere because otherwise they'd be slightly inconvenienced, and companies are spending billions to convince them to keep voting that way and also silencing scientists who are sounding the alarm... ...but a human threw the match!
- Terr_ 2y ago
  "Stop blaming the rise in fatal car crashes on icy roads from the freak blizzard, because statistics show that 100% of car crashes are caused by humans! ...Also 100% of cars." A final result can have multiple contributing causes.
AlbertCory 2y ago
Always wear different shoes when you commit a crime, then dispose of the shoes afterwards. A friend told me that.
- whycome 2y ago
  And make sure they don't fit properly. So that they will acquit. On a related note: Also, change your tires.
  - luqtas 2y ago
    we may also skim down to: don't be the person who commited the crime ^-^
    - mkoryak 2y ago
      Or, if you are, don't get caught
      - spiderice 2y ago
        By changing your shoes and tires
    - newshoes 2y ago
      I'm glad we've come upon this groundbreaking discovery in crime prevention.
  - whaleofatw2022 2y ago
    When I moved and had a set of tires I had no room for, it was surprisingly hard to give them away even to tire shops. I guess this explains some of it lol.
    - dylan604 2y ago
      Just go to a lake and tie them against someone's boat launch, or just throw them in the lake. After all, you've gone this far of committing a crime, what's a little illegal dumping going to bother you?
beaglesss 2y ago
I understand why someone may intentionally or accidentally start ONE wildfire but always been baffled anyone could do it a second time realizing the effects. It's a weird phenomenon.
- hypeatei 2y ago
  Some people just want to watch the world burn.
  - lfmunoz4 2y ago
    sounds like something a bot would say
    - Dalewyn 2y ago
      Some people do, in fact, want to watch the world burn whether figuratively or literally or both.
      - lazide 2y ago
        Ideally both at once, while cackling maniacally.
      - drewcoo 2y ago
        Literally is already both these days.
    - hypeatei 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - lazystar 2y ago
        exactly, this isn't reddit, so please don't post a meme comment that only contains a single line from a 15 year old movie. if you arent contributing to the conversation, please just stay silent.
avalys 2y ago
[flagged]
- switch007 2y ago
  What if a mistake is made during the process? There is no ctrl-z for death
  - newshoes 2y ago
    Death fans already don't particularly care about life. What makes you think they care about making a mistake?
- bell-cot 2y ago
  America has a problematic history with the death penalty. Especially with making sure it's actual the perp who gets penalized. Not some convenient scapegoat. But I might not object to jury members who lost homes or family to the fire, or "999 to life" jail terms.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    I'm sure the defense attorney would object during jury selection
- AnimalMuppet 2y ago
  Pretty sure you're overreacting... unless someone dies in the fire. Then it's murder.
- newshoes 2y ago
  [flagged]
motohagiography 2y ago
Canada has a legit wildfire season, and electrical and accidents obviously occur, but it also has an arson problem apparently because the fires drive a set of other narratives. eco-terrorism has its own internal status system that incentivises it. It's a source of chaos for its own sake. The irony is that instead of dealing with the crime, police mainly protect these "activists" from the communities they harass and the impunity from traditional consequences just makes them worse.
- mgbmtl 2y ago
  I mean, sure, you could blame the climate crisis on the petrol companies that have doubled production in Alberta in the past 10 years, or you suspect "eco-terrorists" which, as far as I know, is a Maxime Bernier conspiracy theory that has never been proven, despite the fact that environmental groups are constantly under CSIS watch? (https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230609-canada-wildfires-spark-ecoterrorist-conspiracy-theory https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230609-canada-wildfi...)
- Legogris 2y ago
  BBC podcast series Burning Wild paints a pretty different picture than your narrative. Highly recommended. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0cx6tw7 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0cx6tw7
pvaldes 2y ago
Finally it seems that a lot of countries are starting to take the crime aspect of wildfires more seriously. This is probably a year with a high risk by the elections so I would expect a complicated summer.
YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago
Shoe print evidence has a high chance to lead to false convictions: >> The National Institute of Justice, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, has just published a report which found certain techniques, including footprint analysis and fire debris, in forensic science were disproportionately associated with wrongful conviction https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bad-science-and-bad-statistics-in-the-courtroom-convict-innocent-people/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bad-science-and-b... (https://archive.ph/4ezJo https://archive.ph/4ezJo) Also see wikipedia: >> It must also be considered that footprints discovered at a crime scene remain fixed, while the wearer of the footwear continues on likely changing the wear of the shoe. Thus, unless the print is immediately matched its potential value may be lost. Also of concern is the lack of science and standards demonstrating that footwear marks are unique. There are a lack of scientific studies demonstrating how many characteristics are needed to determine a match with such evidence. This is similar to other forensic evidence such as bite mark analysis, tire tread analysis, etc. where there is little scientific evidence of its efficacy. In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences made the conclusion that, aside from DNA, there was little if not any, scientific evidence for many forensic disciplines, including footprint evidence.[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_footwear_evidence#Limitations_of_footwear_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_footwear_evidence#Lim...
- speakspokespok 2y ago
  Well the El Paso Times has been covering this for about a month [0]. Witnesses, including a park ranger, repeatedly describe seeing a dark Jeep leaving the scene of each fire. Prints from a pair of Vans slip-ons and tire treads were found at multiple fire scenes. When she was pulled over, the prints of the girlfriend's Vans slip-ons matched those found at the scenes, as did the tread of the dark-colored Jeep she was then driving. [0] https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/crime/2024/07/22/fbi-man-woman-linked-to-salt-fire-six-other-fires-in-mescalero/74502304007/ https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/crime/2024/07/22/fbi-...

63 points by geox 2y ago

shadowtree 2y ago

[flagged]

UseofWeapons1 2y ago
Important to note that despite being started by humans, those fires are still made larger and exacerbated by climate change. Not to say you’re implying against that, just clarifying.
- pvaldes 2y ago
  ...despite being started at the same time in 15 different locations by humans, in the most windy and hot night of the year, the wildfire got surprisingly big
ceejayoz 2y ago
It's both. That 85% includes accidents, it's not all arson. > According to the National Park Service, nearly 85% of wildland fires in the U.S. are caused by human activities, such as unattended campfires, debris burning, equipment malfunctions and arson. Severe heat, which persists across the country in dangerous waves, can also fuel wildfires. Climate change easily makes little accidents more likely to turn into big ones. Hotter, dryer, windier, etc. means that little spark from your campfire winds up sparking a fire.
- JohnMakin 2y ago
  > Climate change easily makes little accidents more likely to turn into big ones. precisely - when climate tips ground temps close to ignition points it does not take much to spark a huge conflagration, even if the source is human.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    Where have temps ever reached a point close to ignition points? Quick search says hottest temp ever on Earth was 135°F/56.7°C in Death Valley. Another quick search doesn't show specific grass/leaf ignition points, and I've spent more time on it already that I probably should have, but not 0 effort.
    - rurp 2y ago
      Temperature records are generally recorded in a controlled way for consistent readings using the same height, shade, etc. There have certainly been points on the earth that have gotten hotter than the official record. Whether that's enough to cause plants to spontaneously combust though, I have no idea.
    - lazide 2y ago
      Those are air temperatures in the shade. Direct sunlight gets much hotter, and in Death Valley for instance you can get third degree burns walking on sand dunes (not even black sand!) [https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/a-man-got-third-degree-burns-walking-on-blazing-hot-sand-dunes-in-death-val/?ref=TSM https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/a-man-got-third-d...] [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weather_records#:~:text=The%20theoretical%20maximum%20possible%20ground,soils%20of%20low%20thermal%20conductivity https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weather_records#:~:t....] Furnace creek had a measured ground temp of 201F not that long ago. That’s a lot closer to flash point than air temp. And localized reflections can easily boost that.
    - JohnMakin 2y ago
      > Where have temps ever reached a point close to ignition points? California wild fires are often triggered by chaparral combusting, helped by high ground temperatures, which are not the same as air temperatures and can be much, much hotter.
- thegrim33 2y ago
  I don't know why you wouldn't just post the numbers, but here they are, from the data from the link: Arson-caused: 320,814 Human-caused non-arson: 1,046,983 Natural-caused: 327,319 (Ignoring all fires classified as unknown/unspecified cause). So, there's as many arson caused fires as natural caused fires, and three times as many non-arson fires from human activities as from arson fires. Make of that what you will.
  - ceejayoz 2y ago
    Even with arson, climate change makes arson-started fires worse. Ignition is only part of the story of the fire; climate change impacts the spread in a variety of ways.
    - jonhohle 2y ago
      I’ve previously read that in certain states (California) forestry services no longer maintain forests to avoid serious wildfire conditions.[0][1] Somewhat ironically, while blaming climate change for the problem instead of dealing with the problem, the amount of pollution from mismanagement exacerbates the amount of CO2 released. 0 - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1243599 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1243599 1 - https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadas-burning-because-of-bad-forest-policy-not-climate-change https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadas-burning-because-of-...
      - ceejayoz 2y ago
        I'm entirely onboard with "humans are fucking the entire system up in multiple interrelated ways".
      - Blackcatmaxy 2y ago
        This is actually a bit of a political debate, there are those who believe that letting the undergrowth burn will be better long term for forest health and reducing the severity of wildfires. https://www.kqed.org/science/1134217/let-it-burn-the-forest-service-wants-to-stop-putting-out-some-fires https://www.kqed.org/science/1134217/let-it-burn-the-forest-... https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/29/opinion/sunday/california-wildfires-forest-management.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/29/opinion/sunda...
ceedan 2y ago
Nothing conspiratorial about that, except for your mindset. Smokey the Bear has been informing us about wild fires for 80 years now…
snakeyjake 2y ago
Climate change cannot start a wildfire. Only lightning strikes and humans can. (or volcanos but not a lot of them around the US) Climate change can, and does depending on the nature of the change, increase the risk of wildfires. Also bears playing with matches. edit: It is possible for a large mound of organic debris like a mound of animals that got killed by lighting and then rapidly covered and then decomposed by really vigorous microorganisms to spontaneously ignite but that would be so rare in a world without humans heaping up big piles of the stuff as to be irrelevant.
- svieira 2y ago
  > but that would be so rare in a world without humans heaping up big piles of the stuff Hogs will heap up lots of organic debris and sleep in it, choosing strategically where to urinate in order to increase or decrease the heat emitted by the pile. > The distinctive “pigloos” the animals build consist of mounds of cattails, which they cut down and burrow into, capturing enough heat to steam on cold days, Brook explains. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/huge-feral-hogs-swine-spreading-through-north-canada https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/huge-fera... and https://feralhogs.extension.org/signs-of-presence/#:~:text=Feral%20hogs%20build%20farrowing%20nests,be%20difficult%20to%20tell%20apart https://feralhogs.extension.org/signs-of-presence/#:~:text=F.... > Farrowing nests are rooted-out areas typically round to oval in shape (Figure 8). Nests range in size from 3 to 8 feet long, 2 to 7 feet wide, and 2 to 7 inches deep. Sows excavate these shallow depressions for giving birth to their young. Sows line the nests using readily-available material in close proximity, or some nests are unlined. Nests found in colder or open habitats are more elaborate than those found in warmer or forested habitats. Elaborate nests can have dome-like covers made of vegetation piled to 4-feet high.
avalys 2y ago
That’s confusing the issue a bit. Or, if you prefer, you are arguing against a strawman. The claim is not that climate change “causes” fires (how would that even work, exactly?) The claim is that the conditions that allow these fires to grow explosively and do so much damage are due in part to climate change. Without climate change, we’d still have human-caused fires, but their effect would not be so severe. I take no position on this claim, but this is how it is typically advanced.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Please be careful with fire around that strawman. He'll go up in flames very quickly
- newshoes 2y ago
  [flagged]
burnished 2y ago
I thought this was due to mismanagement and accumulation of what amounts to tinder in public parks by suppressing all fires for over a hundred years?
newshoes 2y ago
Yeah! I mean, sure, someone dumped gasoline everywhere, and continues to do so and then deny it's a problem, and millions of people keep voting to dump gasoline everywhere because otherwise they'd be slightly inconvenienced, and companies are spending billions to convince them to keep voting that way and also silencing scientists who are sounding the alarm... ...but a human threw the match!
Terr_ 2y ago
"Stop blaming the rise in fatal car crashes on icy roads from the freak blizzard, because statistics show that 100% of car crashes are caused by humans! ...Also 100% of cars." A final result can have multiple contributing causes.

AlbertCory 2y ago

Always wear different shoes when you commit a crime, then dispose of the shoes afterwards. A friend told me that.

whycome 2y ago
And make sure they don't fit properly. So that they will acquit. On a related note: Also, change your tires.
- luqtas 2y ago
  we may also skim down to: don't be the person who commited the crime ^-^
  - mkoryak 2y ago
    Or, if you are, don't get caught
    - spiderice 2y ago
      By changing your shoes and tires
  - newshoes 2y ago
    I'm glad we've come upon this groundbreaking discovery in crime prevention.
- whaleofatw2022 2y ago
  When I moved and had a set of tires I had no room for, it was surprisingly hard to give them away even to tire shops. I guess this explains some of it lol.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    Just go to a lake and tie them against someone's boat launch, or just throw them in the lake. After all, you've gone this far of committing a crime, what's a little illegal dumping going to bother you?

beaglesss 2y ago

I understand why someone may intentionally or accidentally start ONE wildfire but always been baffled anyone could do it a second time realizing the effects. It's a weird phenomenon.

hypeatei 2y ago
Some people just want to watch the world burn.
- lfmunoz4 2y ago
  sounds like something a bot would say
  - Dalewyn 2y ago
    Some people do, in fact, want to watch the world burn whether figuratively or literally or both.
    - lazide 2y ago
      Ideally both at once, while cackling maniacally.
    - drewcoo 2y ago
      Literally is already both these days.
  - hypeatei 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - lazystar 2y ago
      exactly, this isn't reddit, so please don't post a meme comment that only contains a single line from a 15 year old movie. if you arent contributing to the conversation, please just stay silent.

avalys 2y ago

[flagged]

switch007 2y ago
What if a mistake is made during the process? There is no ctrl-z for death
- newshoes 2y ago
  Death fans already don't particularly care about life. What makes you think they care about making a mistake?
bell-cot 2y ago
America has a problematic history with the death penalty. Especially with making sure it's actual the perp who gets penalized. Not some convenient scapegoat. But I might not object to jury members who lost homes or family to the fire, or "999 to life" jail terms.
- dylan604 2y ago
  I'm sure the defense attorney would object during jury selection
AnimalMuppet 2y ago
Pretty sure you're overreacting... unless someone dies in the fire. Then it's murder.
newshoes 2y ago
[flagged]

motohagiography 2y ago

Canada has a legit wildfire season, and electrical and accidents obviously occur, but it also has an arson problem apparently because the fires drive a set of other narratives. eco-terrorism has its own internal status system that incentivises it. It's a source of chaos for its own sake. The irony is that instead of dealing with the crime, police mainly protect these "activists" from the communities they harass and the impunity from traditional consequences just makes them worse.

mgbmtl 2y ago
I mean, sure, you could blame the climate crisis on the petrol companies that have doubled production in Alberta in the past 10 years, or you suspect "eco-terrorists" which, as far as I know, is a Maxime Bernier conspiracy theory that has never been proven, despite the fact that environmental groups are constantly under CSIS watch? (https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230609-canada-wildfires-spark-ecoterrorist-conspiracy-theory https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230609-canada-wildfi...)
Legogris 2y ago
BBC podcast series Burning Wild paints a pretty different picture than your narrative. Highly recommended. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0cx6tw7 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0cx6tw7

pvaldes 2y ago

Finally it seems that a lot of countries are starting to take the crime aspect of wildfires more seriously. This is probably a year with a high risk by the elections so I would expect a complicated summer.

YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago

Shoe print evidence has a high chance to lead to false convictions: >> The National Institute of Justice, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, has just published a report which found certain techniques, including footprint analysis and fire debris, in forensic science were disproportionately associated with wrongful conviction https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bad-science-and-bad-statistics-in-the-courtroom-convict-innocent-people/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bad-science-and-b... (https://archive.ph/4ezJo https://archive.ph/4ezJo) Also see wikipedia: >> It must also be considered that footprints discovered at a crime scene remain fixed, while the wearer of the footwear continues on likely changing the wear of the shoe. Thus, unless the print is immediately matched its potential value may be lost. Also of concern is the lack of science and standards demonstrating that footwear marks are unique. There are a lack of scientific studies demonstrating how many characteristics are needed to determine a match with such evidence. This is similar to other forensic evidence such as bite mark analysis, tire tread analysis, etc. where there is little scientific evidence of its efficacy. In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences made the conclusion that, aside from DNA, there was little if not any, scientific evidence for many forensic disciplines, including footprint evidence.[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_footwear_evidence#Limitations_of_footwear_evidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_footwear_evidence#Lim...

speakspokespok 2y ago
Well the El Paso Times has been covering this for about a month [0]. Witnesses, including a park ranger, repeatedly describe seeing a dark Jeep leaving the scene of each fire. Prints from a pair of Vans slip-ons and tire treads were found at multiple fire scenes. When she was pulled over, the prints of the girlfriend's Vans slip-ons matched those found at the scenes, as did the tread of the dark-colored Jeep she was then driving. [0] https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/crime/2024/07/22/fbi-man-woman-linked-to-salt-fire-six-other-fires-in-mescalero/74502304007/ https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/crime/2024/07/22/fbi-...