During September, Nolan Calvin and Mark Blackstone went fishing at Priest Lake, Idaho. They were cleaning a trout when they discovered something unusual: a human finger. The fisherman placed the finger on ice and brought the digit to a local police station. Investigators obtained a fingerprint from the finger; it belonged to Hans Galassi, who had lost the fingers from his left hand during a wakeboarding accident in June. Galassi had no use for the retrieved finger.

As BBC News notes in the article, “Who What Why: How durable is a fingerprint?” fingerprints can last a long time and are tough to get rid of. The article is a good source for basic information about the durability of fingerprints and attempts to obliterate those pesky friction ridges.