Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology
Scientific and technological developments experienced by forensic sciences have increased the possibility of human identification. Forensic anthropology has developed worldwide and has made significant progress in Brazil in the last 10 years. This context has allowed forensic medicine institutes to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Forensic Science International: Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910724000124 |
| _version_ | 1827219847429226496 |
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| author | Gabriela Araujo dos Santos Talita Lima de Castro Espicalsky Leticia Regina Alfaia Custódio Melina Calmon Silva Eugenia Cunha |
| author_facet | Gabriela Araujo dos Santos Talita Lima de Castro Espicalsky Leticia Regina Alfaia Custódio Melina Calmon Silva Eugenia Cunha |
| author_sort | Gabriela Araujo dos Santos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scientific and technological developments experienced by forensic sciences have increased the possibility of human identification. Forensic anthropology has developed worldwide and has made significant progress in Brazil in the last 10 years. This context has allowed forensic medicine institutes to use new techniques to resolve cold cases of human identification. This work aimed to report the methodology, development, and partial results of the LAFOL Identifies Operation, carried out at the Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Dentistry Laboratory (LAFOL) of the Medico-Legal Institute of Porto Velho. We carried out a multidisciplinary expert approach on human skeletal remains archived over the last 20 years to identify these individuals using current scientific methods. Eighty-one cold cases of skeletonized and/or mummified human skeletal remains were reanalyzed; they were archived in the LAFOL Laboratory collection as unidentified. Anthropological analyses showed that the collection is predominantly composed of adult individuals (86.4%), between 21 and 39 years old (55.6%), and males (62.9%). In the human skeletal remains identified, forensic anthropology played a key role in the case screening process. We expected that the results presented in this work will inspire other Medico-Legal Institutes in Brazil and worldwide to establish task forces for the reanalysis of cold cases in their institutes, promoting new forensic dentistry and anthropological comparisons and collecting biological samples to feed the database of genetic profiles of missing persons. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:11:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0adbcc8464f94fcca6ea55a7dd1ed3da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2665-9107 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-21T15:57:18Z |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forensic Science International: Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-0adbcc8464f94fcca6ea55a7dd1ed3da2024-06-18T04:18:46ZengElsevierForensic Science International: Reports2665-91072024-07-019100363Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropologyGabriela Araujo dos Santos0Talita Lima de Castro Espicalsky1Leticia Regina Alfaia Custódio2Melina Calmon Silva3Eugenia Cunha4University of Coimbra, Center for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, Coimbra 3000-456, Portugal; Corresponding author.Legal Medical Institute of Porto Velho, Flores da Cunha St., 4359, Porto Velho, Rondônia 78.930-830, BrazilFaculty of Dentistry of Piracicaba, University of Campinas, Limeira Av., 901, Piracicaba, São Paulo 13414-903, BrazilNational Center for the Dissemination of Forensic Sciences, Brazilian Federal Police, Distrito Federal, BrazilUniversity of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology Department of Life Sciences, Calçada Martim de Freitas, Coimbra 3000-456, Portugal; National Institute of legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Lisbon, PortugalScientific and technological developments experienced by forensic sciences have increased the possibility of human identification. Forensic anthropology has developed worldwide and has made significant progress in Brazil in the last 10 years. This context has allowed forensic medicine institutes to use new techniques to resolve cold cases of human identification. This work aimed to report the methodology, development, and partial results of the LAFOL Identifies Operation, carried out at the Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Dentistry Laboratory (LAFOL) of the Medico-Legal Institute of Porto Velho. We carried out a multidisciplinary expert approach on human skeletal remains archived over the last 20 years to identify these individuals using current scientific methods. Eighty-one cold cases of skeletonized and/or mummified human skeletal remains were reanalyzed; they were archived in the LAFOL Laboratory collection as unidentified. Anthropological analyses showed that the collection is predominantly composed of adult individuals (86.4%), between 21 and 39 years old (55.6%), and males (62.9%). In the human skeletal remains identified, forensic anthropology played a key role in the case screening process. We expected that the results presented in this work will inspire other Medico-Legal Institutes in Brazil and worldwide to establish task forces for the reanalysis of cold cases in their institutes, promoting new forensic dentistry and anthropological comparisons and collecting biological samples to feed the database of genetic profiles of missing persons.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910724000124Body RemainsHuman IdentificationForensic GeneticsForensic Anthropology |
| spellingShingle | Gabriela Araujo dos Santos Talita Lima de Castro Espicalsky Leticia Regina Alfaia Custódio Melina Calmon Silva Eugenia Cunha Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology Forensic Science International: Reports Body Remains Human Identification Forensic Genetics Forensic Anthropology |
| title | Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology |
| title_full | Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology |
| title_fullStr | Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology |
| title_short | Solving cold cases: The importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology |
| title_sort | solving cold cases the importance of new identification techniques in old cases of forensic anthropology |
| topic | Body Remains Human Identification Forensic Genetics Forensic Anthropology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910724000124 |
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