Dr. Frederick J. Snow
Knoxville, TN 37918
Dr. Rick Snow is an expert in the field of Forensic Anthropology. He specializes in assisting district attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, law enforcement agencies, medical examiners, and coroners in locating, recovering, analyzing, and identifying human remains.
From 2002-2009 Dr. Snow worked for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as the Forensic Anthropologist for the State of Georgia at Large. During this time he worked well over 300 forensic anthropology cases for more than 80 law enforcement agencies, coroners, and medical examiners in Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. Of these cases, nearly 100 were homicides. He also conducted more than 60 recoveries of human remains including the excavation of eight wells.
Dr. Snow consults with district attorneys and criminal defense attorneys to determine time since death, manner of death, skeletal trauma, and identification of human remains. He is highly trained in the analysis of skeletal, decomposed, mummified, burned, cremated, incomplete, fragmentary, dismembered, and commingled remains.
Dr. Snow has testified as an expert witness in forensic anthropology in both Superior and Federal Court. His expert testimony has been critical to the outcome of several high profile criminal cases. A personable witness that is able to explain difficult scientific data in a clear and concise manner, Dr. Snow is as comfortable in the courtroom as he is in the field or the lab.
In 2005 he was sent to Phuket, Thailand to serve as the Coordinator of the Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification Information Management Center. Also in 2005 he worked as a forensic anthropologist for the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) following Hurricane Katrina.
In 2002 he served as a forensic anthropologist at the Tri-State Crematory incident and was instrumental in the location, recovery, and identification of 334 bodies that were not cremated.
In 2001 he served eight months in Bosnia working mass graves and analyzing the remains for the International Commission on Missing Persons. In 1999 he served as a forensic anthropologist in Kosovo as an agent of the United Nations where he excavated mass graves and analyzed the remains for evidence of trauma.
He was a Patrolman II for the Dekalb County (GA) Police Department and is POST certified in forensic anthropology.
- Forensic Anthropology
- Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:
- A: Ph.D. in Anthropology from The University of Tennessee
- Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:
- A: American Academy of Forensic Sciences
International Association for Identification
International Homicide Investigators Association
National Association of Medical Examiners
Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (1997-2007)
Sigma XI
Georgia Body Recovery Team (2003-2009)
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at The University of Georgia
National Institute of Justice General Forensic Research and Development Technology Working Group
National Institute of Justice Forensic Science Training Development and Delivery Program Peer Review Panel
- Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
- A: The Tri-State Crematorium Incident: A Mass Disaster Over Seven Years. Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Seattle, WA.
Forensic Anthropology and Cold Cases. International Homicide Investigators Association, Washington D.C.
Forensic Anthropology and Cold Cases. International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, Las Vegas, NV.
The CSI Effect: The Good, the Bad, and the Reality. West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute, Charleston, WV.
Forensic Anthropology and Cold Cases. 12th Annual Vancouver Police Department Homicide Conference, Vancouver, B.C.
Forensic Anthropology and Cold Cases. National Institute of Justice Applied Technologies Conference, Point Clear, AL.
Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains. Third Annual Missing Persons Conference. Fox Valley Technical College. Appleton, WI.
Forensic Anthropology and Cold Cases. National Institute of Justice Advanced Cold Case Training Seminar, San Diego, CA
Mass Graves and Buried Body Scenes Workshop, New England Division of the International Association for Identification, Newport, RI
Bones? Call an Anthropologist. Florida Division of the International Association for Identification, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Forensic Anthropology and Cold Cases. National Institute of Justice Advanced Cold Case Training Seminar, Indian Rocks Beach, FL
The Tri-State Crematory Incident: A Mass Disaster of Negligence. National Institute of Justice Applied Technologies Conference, Garden Grove, CA
The Tri-State Crematory Incident. 4th Annual Cold Case Homicide Seminar, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
Forensic Anthropology and Cold Cases. National Institute of Justice Advanced Cold Case Training, Pittsburgh, PA
Buried Body Workshop, New England Division of the International Association for Identification, Manchester, VT
Buried Body Workshop, Spartanburg County (SC) Coroner's Office, Spartanburg, SC
Numerous other presentations - Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
- A: No
- Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?
- A: Approximately 10
- Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
- A: Forensic anthropology, skeletal trauma analysis, time since death, buried body recovery, scattered remains recovery, cremains analysis.
- Q: When was the last time you had your deposition taken?
- A: April 2011
- Q: On how many occasions have you been qualified by a court to give expert testimony?
- A: Approximately 10
- Q: On how many occasions have you testified as an expert in court or before an arbitrator?
- A: Approximately 10
- Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?
- A: Approximately 15
- Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
- A: Consulting in human cremains analysis, forensic anthropology, case review, skeletal autopsy review, human remains recovery, skeletal recovery review, presentations on forensic anthropology to district attorneys, defense attorneys, law enforcement agencies, and the public.
References upon request.