Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2012

STEVENSON UNIVERSITY As Bass had experienced with the Civil War Colonel, being able to differentiate between cemetery remains and forensic remains is important. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, forensic anthropologists had to distinguish between the remains from cemeteries and victims of the disaster. Under normal circumstances, the presence of personal items, such as jewelry or rosary beads, can lead the forensic anthropologist to believe the body is a cemetery burial, but that may not true in a situation such as cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina. One of the major differences is embalmed versus nonembalmed bodies. Despite what the public may believe, embalming does not stop decomposition, but rather retards decomposition. A challenge with using DNA and mtDNA in the identification of remains is the requirement for comparison data. Unlike the identification of the remains in Ekaterinburg, attempting to identify remains using only DNA will rarely result in a positive identification. This method must be combined with osteological identification to narrow down the possible matches. Sometimes, however, a comparison sample may not exist. Family members may be deceased. Adoption can also limit the use of DNA in identification. Modern U.S. military procedures require DNA of service members to be kept on file in the event identification of remains through other methods is not possible or to confirm the identity. The discipline of forensic taphonomy is “that part of forensic anthropology which focuses on reconstructing events during and following death by collecting and analyzing data about the depositional context, discriminating peri- and postmortem modification of the remains, and estimating the postmortem internal” (Haglund & Sorg, 1996, p. 13). Similar to the forensic anthropologist searching bones for answers to who the person was, the forensic taphonomist searches for answers to the how and the why of decomposition and burial. Taphonomists study the bugs and animals that assist in the decomposition process. A challenge to the study of decomposition is most research is completed in controlled environments, whereas ‘real world’ situations are unpredictable in their infinite variables. DNA is a sensitive molecule. It can break down quickly with time and is susceptible to heat. Sykes studied the ways to extract DNA from ancient remains, and insufficient amounts to run the necessary tests. mtDNA was chosen because “cells have upwards of a hundred times more of it than any other gene” (Sykes, 2001, p. 16). The chance of mtDNA surviving in bones is greater than DNA. For identification purposes, DNA shows whether two people are related and how closely related; siblings will have more similar DNA than father and child. In genealogy, DNA is used to trace paternal lines as the last name will stay the same and, thus, easier to trace the genetic similarities. mtDNA is a matrilineal gene; it is passed solely from mother to child with very little change through the generations. For identification purposes, either gene is useful, as long as the lineage of the person to be identified is known as there must be a sample to be compared. DNA AND mtDNA Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is considered the “building block of life.” DNA contains information that makes individuals unique based on the traits inherited from both parents. Those traits appear in the DNA molecules. The closer the relationship is between two people, the more similarity is found in their DNA traits. With every future generation, the DNA strand will be altered by the introduction of new genetic material. JPAC AND FORENSIC SCIENCE Another source of much study of human remains identification is located on Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. In 1973, the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory was commissioned to identify U.S. service member remains from the conflicts in Southeast Asia. In 2003, this laboratory merged with the Joint Task Force – Full Accounting Command to form the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), establishing the world’s largest laboratory for human remains identification. The mission of this command is to “achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans missing as a result of our nation’s past conflicts” (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, 2011). In his Executive Summary from the 2010 JPAC Annual Report, MG Stephen Tom states: There is a strand of DNA that is passed through the generations with very little change in structure. Mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, is found in the mitochondria, or energy center of cells. The mtDNA is passed almost unchanged from mother to child. Bryan Sykes, of the University of Oxford, was one of the first to study mtDNA from old bones and its use in genealogy and identification. He related how mtDNA was used to determine the identity of remains found near Ekaterinburg, Ukraine in July 1991. The bodies were believed to be those of Tsar Nicolas II, his wife and their five children, their doctor and three servants; only nine bodies were found where there should have been eleven. DNA was used to determine four of the bodies were not related to any others and five were closely related. It was mtDNA that proved of the five related persons four ha H[

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