Expert explains why autopsy on missing N.J. boy was inconclusive

Kimberlee Moran, a forensic archaeologist and adjunct professor at Rutgers-Camden, has investigated many outdoor death scenes in the past.

HADDON TWP. -- It was around 9 a.m. Tuesday when the body of 3-year-old Brendan Creato was found. Just about 12 hours later, two neighbors stood at the edge of those same pitch black woods and tried to understand how the young boy would end up there.

It's the job of experts like Kimberlee Moran, a forensic archaeologist and current adjunct professor at Rutgers-Camden, to understand exactly that.

"You're not just running around the woods looking for what's out of place," said Moran, who is also the assistant program director for the Masters of Forensic Science program at Arcadia University.

Moran, who has been a forensic consultant and educator since 2002, has worked alongside investigators on cases here and in England, where she lived for a decade. Moran is not involved and has no direct knowledge of the investigation into Brendan's death. 

NJ Advance Media spoke with Moran to get a better understanding of what authorities in the case may have looked for at the scene in Haddon Township and what investigators could be examining now that the caution tape has come down.

Systematic response

Brendan Creato was reported missing by his father at around 6 a.m. Tuesday. DJ Creato, who has been questioned by authorities, told a 9-1-1 dispatcher that his son must have unlocked a door overnight and wandered off.

So far, no arrests have been made and toxicology tests -- which analyze blood, urine and hair -- could take weeks. The prosecutor's office offered no additional updates on the case Thursday.

Detectives are now likely "trying to make sense of what happened," Moran said. In a case like this, Moran said police officers are assigned to control the area and question neighbors. Crime scene workers process the surrounding area for evidence, which is then sent to a laboratory to be examined.

"You really have no idea how big the scene is," she said of the initial response, noting that it takes time and careful work to locate possible pieces of evidence near where a body is found.

In the field, forensics workers are slowly surveying and marking off potential evidence, which is then photographed, bagged, labeled and sent to be studied, she said.

"It's very likely this house is going to get processed, too," Moran said of the apartment where Brendan Creato was last seen.

She noted that her training has included analyzing statements made by those who are part of a police investigation. Suggestions made by DJ Creato in the 9-1-1 call about the door being unlocked were of interest to her.

"Camden County has a very good crime scene unit within the prosecutor's office," Moran said, adding that investigators "are specially-trained personnel who systematically go through crime scenes and recover evidence."

Moran, who has investigated outdoor death scenes during her career, said the changing nature of the area makes the work more difficult. In her experience, Moran said figuring out how the victim arrived where found is very important.

If Brendan entered the woods on his own, Moran would be seeking the most likely route someone his age would take. She would then want to know if he was clothed, the position of his body, if there were signs of defense wounds or dirt on his hands, shoes and knees.

"The fresher the body is, the more easy it is to find these outward signs. As the body starts to decompose, signs decompose with it," Moran said.

'Inconclusive'

A medical examiner is tasked with determining the cause and manner of death. Moran explained that the cause of death would be physical conditions such as heart attack, overdoses or blunt-force trauma. Homicide, suicide, accidental or natural causes are examples of manners of death. Cause and manner were not determined by the autopsy conducted Tuesday, officials said. No other information was released.

Moran said the first step of an autopsy would have included an external investigation of the body, where medical examiners would have looked for signs of bruising, other trauma or older wounds since healed. After that would be an examination of internal organs like the heart and brain, possible broken bones or internal bruising.

"That always makes things more difficult," Moran said of failing to find outward signs of trauma.

An inconclusive finding by definition means the internal and external tests failed to show what caused someone's death. Moran said a medical examiner rendering an inconclusive ruling isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it's difficult to change the cause of death after it has been listed on a death certificate.

The toxicology tests are primarily used to detect drugs ingested by the deceased, be it prescription medications or long-term use that can be determined by hair samples.

Moran said such tests have been used in cases involving young children to see if they had been "doped" to keep calm.

Neighbors have wondered if hypothermia may have claimed Brendan, but Moran isn't convinced. The lowest temperature recorded in Haddon Township on Monday night into Tuesday was 46 degrees, according to Accuweather.com. While temperatures during the overnight hours would have left him chilly, being exposed to those elements would not likely have killed him, she said.

Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.