Estimation of Stature and Sex from Step Length and Shoe Dimensions for Forensic Investigation
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Abstract
Footwear impression marks and footwear are among the most commonly found evidence at crime scenes. The aim of this study was to develop a formula for estimation of the stature and gender of an individual if the shoe dimensions and step length of that individual were known. The footwear dimensions (length and width) were collected from 320 subjects, comprising 152 males and 168 females, ranging from 18 to 44 years of age. A statistical model for sex and height prediction was constructed using logistic regression and multiple linear regression analysis, respectively. In general, the stature, shoe width, shoe length and average step length were significantly larger in males than in females (p<0.05). The strongest correlation coefficient (r) was observed in the step length for female and male. While for the pooled sample, the shoe size showed greatest and strong positive correlation coefficient. The lowest correlation was observed in shoe length in all groups. This study is demonstrated that the dimension of the shoe and the step length can be used to estimate stature and sex of the shoe owner. These models may be useful in the forensic investigation of criminal cases.
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References
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