Bodies without names: A retrospective review of unidentified decedents at Salt River Mortuary, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010 - 2017

Abstract

Background. Decedents who remain unidentified and/or unclaimed following postmortem investigations are an international occurrence. Salt River Mortuary (SRM), one of the largest and busiest mortuaries in Cape Town, South Africa, also experiences this burden; however, little is known about the nature of these cases. Objectives. To review all cases admitted to SRM between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2017 (n=26 960), with the objectives of quantifying the number of decedents who remained unidentified, and to better understand circumstances surrounding death and the identification methods that were attempted. Methods. Data pertaining to unidentified cases were collected from mortuary burial records and medicolegal case files. Data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2013 (Microsoft, USA). Results. Over the 8-year period, 2 476 cases (mean 9.2% of caseload per annum) admitted to SRM remained unidentified. Bodies underwent an autopsy after a median of 3 days after a death declaration. However, in cases of decomposition, skeletonisation or other physical inhibitors of visual identification (n=345; 14.1%), the time between death and autopsy was undetermined owing to the overall lack of entomology analyses. Approximately 56.9% (n=1 408) of cases were between 20 and 50 years of age, and were predominantly males (78.7%). Unnatural injury-related deaths accounted for 32.4% of unidentified deaths, with firearms, assault and stabbings contributing approximately one-third each. With regard to identification attempts, forensic anthropology was requested in only 1.5% of these cases, and DNA analysis appeared to be used in only 23.6% of cases. Data pertaining to secondary identifiers, forensic odontology and fingerprint analyses were not formally recorded. Conclusions. The relatively short time interval between death declaration and postmortem examination suggests that DNA analysis should be more regularly utilised. Furthermore, it is urged that other ancillary investigations should be more regularly employed; that there is a greater collaboration between stakeholders and identification attempts; and that results are centrally recorded.

A guide to classify tattoo motives in Mexico as a tool to identify unknown bodies

“…The identification method used in every individual case should be scientifically sound, and reliable, and yield results within a reasonable amount of time [ 12 ]. Its suitability strongly depends on the existing local conditions, particularities, and the population [ 6 , 15 , 22 , 23 , 26 ].…”

Bodies without names: A global challenge

“…During the past months, we have worked closely with forensic scientists and authorities to improve the identification process in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The workload of the Instituto Jaliscience de Ciencias Forenses (IJCF) in Guadalajara, Jalisco, is comparable to that of the Salt River Mortuary, and the problems we face are very similar to those described by Reid et al [1] On the one hand, all unidentified bodies are routinely examined by a team of forensic pathologists, odontologists and anthropologists, as well as criminalists, and samples for DNA testing are taken to obtain proper postmortem data. On the other hand, however, there is a lack of antemortem data on missing persons: information on dental status is available in few cases, and there is no nationwide DNA database for missing persons in Mexico.…”

“…To the Editor: It was with great interest that we read the article 'Bodies without names: A retrospective review of unidentified decedents at Salt River Mortuary, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010 -2017' by Reid et al, [1] which gives very informative insight into the work with unknown bodies in one of the busiest mortuaries of the Western Cape.…”

Human Decedent Identification Unit: identifying the deceased at a South African medico-legal mortuary

“…Publications on the identification of the deceased in South Africa, within a medico-legal context, are lacking. One published study has provided a general overview of the unidentified cases in Cape Town, South Africa [ 17 ]. The present study aimed to provide an overview of the unidentified cases at the Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Services medico-legal mortuary and report on the success rate of the positive identifications made subsequent to processing through the ID Unit.…”