Forensic Science is teeming with urban legends or "believe it or not" stories that do the rounds on the internet and spread like wildfire on the electronic grapevine.

What is a Forensic Science Urban Legend?

Urban legends are funny (sometimes) and scary or horrifying stories and anecdotes that spread via the grapevine. With the advent of e-mail and social networking, the spread of these "believe it or not" stories is literally viral.

These urban legends are usually grounded in a tiny scrap of reality and they seem to reflect the paranoia of the masses that perpetuate them. Forensic Science urban legends are no exception.

Definition of an Urban Legend or Urban Myth

On their website alt.folklore.urban FAQ, Peter van der Linden and Terry Chan define an urban legend or urban myth as follows:

• appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in varying forms
• contains elements of humor or horror (the horror often "punishes" someone who flouts society's conventions)
• makes good storytelling
• does NOT have to be false, although most are. Urban Legends often have a basis in fact, but it's their life after-the-fact (particularly in reference to the second and third points) that gives them particular interest

Believe it or Not - The Laundry was Clean

Darwinawards.com is a website packed with smoking "Believe it or not’s" like the 1998 forensic urban legend called The laundry was clean, which is about a 39 year old Charlottesville man who was killed in a freak accident of weird coincidences involving his washing machine.

Another favorite is there too – the Scuba Diver and Forest Fires.Some of them are very believable, others are just too bizarre.

Ronald Opus – the Ultimate Forensic Science Urban Legend

Snopes.com is one of the leading sites for “believe it or not” stories. One of the urban legends Snopes features is the well known tale of the man who jumped off a building to end his life, only to have a shotgun blast finish him off halfway down.

Supposedly this tragic case of Ronald Opus was presented at the annual American Academy of Forensic Scientists meeting in San Diego by AAFS President Don Harper in his opening remarks. It was collected from the internet in 1996.

The truth: Ronald Opus never existed and the urban legend evolved from a scenario posed by Don Harper at this Forensic Science conference.

Dear Abby and the Mold Allergy Urban Legend

Remember the urban legend about the E-mail flier which quotes the Dear Abby column in which a parent describes how her 14 year old son almost died from a severe allergic reaction to a pancake mix? This was not an urban myth, the mother checked the date of the mix on the box and saw it had expired. After she did some research she realized she was lucky he hadn’t died from an anaphylactic shock allergy to the mold which had probably formed on the expired cake mix.

Dear Abby Column not a Hoax According to Forensic Journal

This Dear Abby column was published in 2006. It is not a hoax or an urban legend. The case of her son’s allergic reaction to the “funny-tasting” pancakes matches a case reported in the September 2001 American Journal of Forensic Medicine in which a 19 year old male with mold allergy died of anaphylactic shock after eating pancakes made with ingredients from outdated mix.

In both cases the people who became violently ill and suffered anaphylactic shock were allergic to mold. (Molds can also be found in all kinds of food, not just mixes.)

Some So Called Urban Legends Could be True

So, the moral of the story is that some forensic science urban legends or myths may not be hoaxes; they may seem like urban legends, but they may just be worth checking out.

Reference:

American Journal of Forensic Medical Pathology