Anyone who's ever watched a police thriller on TV like CSI knows something about forensics and body identifications. It's the science used by law enforcement to put names on people who have died and no one knows exactly who they are.
The techniques are used more often than you may realize, and it's often more complicated than TV shows may lead you to believe.
Unidentified Victims Come
More often than not, when someone dies, that person is identified by family member or friend. That's not always possible, though. There are thousands of unidentified victims of:
- Suspected criminal activities
- Natural disasters like hurricanes and tornados
- Mass catastrophes, like the 9/11 bombings and other acts of terrorism
- Car, bus and train accidents
In these and other circumstances, criminal forensic experts, coroners and medical examiners have to figure out the victims' identities.
Identification Process & Techniques
State laws and regulations (or "protocols") set-out the process used to identify bodies. Identifications are typically done by city or county agencies or labs run by coroners or medical examiners. Their primary goal is to identify the body and notify the next-of-kin, if possible, but only after they're reasonably certain they've made the proper ID.
Techniques Used
Depending on the condition of the body - decomposition, missing limbs, etc. - experts look at a number of things to identify victims.
1. Fingerprints are the most commonly used and most successful tool for identifying bodies. The FBI and state and local police departments store fingerprints of people arrested for crimes. Most states also have fingerprints on file for people who have professional licenses (doctors, lawyers, etc.) and people who work with children, for example.
It's possible, however, that decomposition makes it impossible to examine fingerprints. It's also possible the victim's fingerprints aren't on in the federal or state database.
2. DNA can lead to nearly 100 percent positive IDs of victims. And if criminal activity is suspected in the death, it can lead to the identification of the person who committed the crime, too. Like fingerprints, the federal government has DNA databases that can be used by law enforcement personal across the country. The DNA stored is mostly from convicted criminals, but there's also DNA from persons arrested for committing crimes.
Unless DNA from an unidentified body is in the databases, identification of the victim through DNA requires sample DNA from a family member of the victim so the two can be compared for a match. This may happen, for example, when a family member suspects they know the victim, such as in a missing person case or where there's been a mass catastrophe.
3. Teeth are valuable because they survive the most horrific conditions, such as fires, prolonged water exposure and decomposition. They're also good source for collecting the victim's DNA.
Teeth are usually compared to a victim's dental records - there are no databases like those for fingerprints. However, even if there are no dental records with x-rays, teeth can be compared to pictures of the victim while alive to help identify the body. So, dental remains are typically only useful when the examiners have an idea of who the person might be, such as when a family member suspects they know a victim.
4. Bones can reveal a lot about an unknown victim, including the victim's DNA, age, height, race, sex and weight. With the help of computer software, experts can use the skull to reproduce the victim's face. Agencies like California's Sacramento County Coroner's Office make the images available to the public for help identifying the victims.
5. Marks on the body, such as scars and tattoos can help in the identification process, especially if a family member or friend helps in the identification process.
6. Surgical implants, such as pace makers, replacement hips and knees, breast implants and many others, as well as prosthetic limbs, all have serial numbers on them. Doctors enter the serial numbers, patient names and other information in databases. Identification of bodies with implants or prosthetics is often done very quickly.
Next: Patience is key