The use of stable isotopes in postconflict forensic identification

The resolution of unidentified human remains (UHR) and long‐term missing persons (LTMP) cases is paramount for administrative, legal, and humanitarian reasons. There are various forensic profiling methods for human identification; however, their utility is dependent on several factors. First, UHR can be found in different stages of decomposition, so the availability and diversity of post‐mortem (PM) information will differ. Second, the availability and totality of the LTMP's ante‐mortem (AM) information will differ. Therefore, the suitability of existing methods will be dependent on the quality and quantity of PM and/or AM data available for comparison. Visual recognition is the simplest and quickest method, but typically not practiced or possible, owing to the altered, fragmented, or skeletonized state of UHR. Primary forensic profiling methods involve the comparison of fingerprint, dental, DNA, and medical data. Secondary forensic profiling methods from anthropology, radiology, geochemistry, and anatomy disciplines can provide supplementary evidence to support comparative identification approaches. Emerging forensic molecular technologies such as genomics, microbiomics, epigenetics, and proteomics, together with individual digital footprints from personal devices, offer new investigative leads for establishing identity. However, despite the success of these individual methods, their limitations must be considered when used in isolation. Through the development of a guiding forensic examination framework, this review endorses an interdisciplinary response to unidentified and missing persons investigations, where various forensic specialists collaboratively examine UHR using a suite of contemporary forensic profiling methods to produce multiple and/or different lines of evidence to link them effectively, efficiently, comprehensively, and systematically to LTMP. This article is categorized under: Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > Special Situations and Investigations Forensic Biology > DNA Testing in Disaster Victim and Missing Persons Identification Forensic Medicine > Medicolegal Death Investigation Systems Jurisprudence and Regulatory Oversight > Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Section: Secondary Forensic Profiling Methods For Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Secondary Forensic Profiling Methods For Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An interdisciplinary forensic approach for human remains identification and missing persons investigations

Dahal

McNevin

Chikhani

et al. 2023

“…Commingled remains can also be associated together based on comparisons of stable isotope profiles (Chesson & Berg, 2022), especially in instances when nDNA testing is not possible or skeletal elements fail to yield DNA results (Figure 2; Table S1). In addition, isotope testing has the potential to discriminate U.S. service members versus foreign nationals based on dietary and geographic differences.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Korean War Identification Project: 30 years of expanding scope and complexity in the accounting of American war dead

Keyes

Doman

et al. 2023

The Korean War claimed approximately 36,500 American service member casualties in its 3 years, of which nearly 7600 are still unaccounted for. The Korea 208 (K208) Project began in 2011 to more strategically address the highly commingled nature of 208 boxes of human remains that were repatriated from North Korea to the United Nations Command in the early 1990s and subsequently turned over to the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (now Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency [DPAA]) for analysis and identification. The K208 was further expanded by the recovery of remains from Joint Recovery Operations (JROs) in North Korea between 1996 and 2005, which revealed, among other issues, the presence of non-U.S. casualties and crossover of elements between these two assemblages.More recently, 55 boxes of human remains (known as the K55) were repatriated from North Korea in 2018 with many of the same commingling and assemblage crossover issues originally presented by the K208. Additionally, there has been an increased push to disinter more than 800 unknown Korean War service members buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also known as the Punchbowl) in Honolulu, which represent casualties recovered from both North and South Korea that had undergone prior analysis in the 1950s and 1960s. Subsequent examination has revealed that many Punchbowl remains are commingled despite being thought to have been originally buried as discrete individuals. Because of these developments, the K208 Project has grown in complexity and scope, thus changing its name to the Korean War Identification Project (KWIP) in 2017. Now under its purview are the original accessions from the K208 and JROs as well as the K55 and Punchbowl, representing the largest identification project within the DPAA. A robust and defensible identification process begins with an initial triage of the remains, followed by a systematic process of segregation, consolidation, and corroboration leading to identification. This

“…Used for decades in bioarcheology (Schoeninger & Moore, 1992) and other forensic science fields (Meier‐Augenstein, 2018), applications of isotope testing in forensic anthropology have increased rapidly in the last 30 years (Chesson et al, 2020a). Here, we present a short synopsis of the technique and its utility in human identification; for a more comprehensive review, particularly in relation to post‐conflict applications, please see Chesson and Berg (2021).…”

Section: New Methodologies For Past Conflict Accountingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of forensic anthropological techniques in identifying America's war dead from past conflicts

Belcher

Shiroma²,

Chesson³

et al. 2021

Self Cite

The Scientific Analysis Directorate of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is a unique entity within the U.S. Government. This agency currently houses the world's largest, accredited skeletal identification laboratory in the world, in terms of the size of the scientific staff, global mission, and number of annual identifications. Traditional forensic anthropology is used for the formation of a biological profile (biological sex, stature, population affinity/ancestry, and age) as well as trauma and pathologies that may be compared with historical records and personnel files. Since World War II, various scientists associated with DoD have conducted base-line research in support of the identification of U.S. war dead, including, but not limited to, histology, the use of chest radiography and clavicle comparison, and statistical models to deal with commingling issues. The primary goal of the identification process of the Scientific Analysis Directorate is to use all available historical, field, and forensic methods to establish the most robust and defendable identification as scientifically and legally possible.