4H CSI investigate ‘Who killed Henry Ward?’

LAURINBURG — “Who Killed Henry Ward?”

That’s the problem amateur investigators were tasked to solve this week during the Crime Scene Investigation Spring Break Camp, presented by the NC Cooperative Extension, Scotland County Center’s 4H, Scotland County Parks and Recreation and Laurel Hill Community Center.

This scenario-based camp allowed students to become detectives and determine who killed Ward in a hit-and-run car accident more than 100 years ago by using science and technology that was not available at the time.

The camp was filled with mystery and intrigue as participants rotated through stations at the Laurel Hill Community Center and conducted blood typing, tested blood spatter patterns and mold impressions, lifted fingerprints, and analyzed bones and hair, all to get a glimpse of the world of crime scene investigation.

On Thursday, campers heard from Scotland County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division, who spoke of the tools they use to investigate a crime scene like a drone with thermal detection, technology that can produce three-dimensional renderings of scenes and canines.

One message detectives Randy Dover and Jay Yarbrough drove home, is that crime scene investigation is far from what is betrayed on television.

On Friday, Campers branched out into the field, touring the City of Laurinburg Police Department and the Scotland County Courthouse.

At the end of the day, the campers compared data and finalized notes to identify their prime suspect.

Cashleren Barnes and sisters Mariah and Laysha Rogers were apprehensive when they first started the camp. “We started to like it,” Barnes said as the day went by.

Mariah said that she enjoyed the more hands-on activities learning about the canines.

Contact Angela D. Galloway at 910-277-2422 or via email at adgallow@ncsu.edu for information on future 4H events.