<P> Corpus delicti is one of the most important concepts in a murder investigation . When a person disappears and cannot be contacted, many police agencies initiate a missing person case . If, during the course of the investigation, detectives believe that he / she has been murdered, then a "body" of evidentiary items, including physical, demonstrative and testimonial evidence, must be obtained to establish that the missing individual has indeed been murdered before a suspect can be charged with homicide . The best and easiest evidence establishment in these cases is the physical body of the deceased . However, in the event that a physical body is not present or has not yet been discovered, it is possible to prove a crime took place if sufficient circumstantial evidence is presented to prove the matter beyond a reasonable doubt . For example, the presence at a missing person's home of spilled human blood, identifiable as that person's, in sufficient quantity to indicate exsanguination, demonstrates--even in the absence of a corpse--that the possibility that no crime has occurred, and the missing person is merely missing, is not reasonably credible . </P> <P> In general, all corpus delicti requires at a minimum: </P> <Ol> <Li> The occurrence of the specific injury; and </Li> <Li> some intentional, knowing act as the source of the injury . </Li> </Ol> <Li> The occurrence of the specific injury; and </Li>

What is the corpus delicti of a crime