Fake dental brackets used in the recognition process of two skeletonized human remains: A probably double murder case

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Heavily decomposed remains often garner the attention of the families of missing people, which leads to multiple attempts at positive identification utilizing DNA, ante mortem and dental records. These cases report two skeletonized remains found around 10 km from each other, both cases showed a plastic restrain around their necks with a diameter incompatible with life, however there was no other indication of death by asphyxia permitting only the suggestion of the causa mortis. The decomposition process of both skeletons were in a different stage, those differences can be due to the environment, injuries and body composition or different death timing, however both victims were missing on the same time interval and their remains were discovered in range of 5 days. The skeletal remains of case I were found with plastic restrain around the neck with (10 cm of internal diameter), anthropological analysis found unusual pink colour in the victim teeth, that could be linked with violent death like asphyxiation and drowning. The victim's hyoid shows an asymmetry mimicking a fracture on its left great horn; moreover, the remains presented a superficial sharp force trauma and could be identified by fingerprint. The skeletal remains of case II, likewise the case I, present a plastic restrain around the neck, the anthropological analysis estimated a profile of sex, height, age at death and ancestry compatible with the data of the alleged victim. The forensic analysis also describes fake brackets fixed in the upper dental arch, which was recognized by the relatives and compared with pictures on social network of the supposed victim. The fake bracket trendy was valuable in the recognition process and the cross analysis between ante- and post-mortem data, that worth mentioning that local culture and habits also can strength imprecise data, moreover, the decomposition process can be imprecise in the estimation of time of death interval.