Identification of scattered skeletal remains

Abstract

The resistant nature of bones and teeth to environmental insults highlights their importance in identification investigations. The DNA preserved in bones and teeth can play a crucial complementary role to comparative dental identification in some forensic scenarios. We report on a case where an isolated mandible and scattered skeletal remains without a skull, were found in a small forest after a post-mortem interval of approximately 4 months. This case illustrates a situation in which two reliable identification modalities, dental identification and DNA profiling, were necessary to reach the confidence level of personal identification and to exclude any false conclusions. Dental identification was established by sufficient concordant dental features in the lower jaw. A comparison of DNA profiles generated from teeth and bone samples of the human remains with DNA profiles generated from a toothbrush and beard hairs as reference samples showed matching profiles. This emphasizes the effectiveness of combining DNA and dental identification for assigning scattered skeletal fragments and identifying human remains. To economize efforts dental comparison, if available, should be performed as a first step prior to DNA genotyping.