Missing people: Problems of identification of unknown bodies using DNA database

Abstract

Databases of unknown bodies and relatives of missing persons were created in the Republic of Belarus as a part of national DNA database. More than 350 unknown bodies which have been found in the republic since 1997 were exhumed in the last three years in order to study DNA and put results into the database. Several cases of erroneous matching were registered after direct bone's genotypes comparison to dataset of missing people relatives. Firstly, the database is organized with one mismatch considered as unexclusion. Secondly, sometimes only one relative (parent or child) is available. Thirdly, less than 15 loci genotype either from relative or bone sample was put into the database. Fourthly, 15 loci match between unrelated people is possible if you are operating with a big dataset. Additional examinations of Y-chromosome, mitochondrial DNA or samples of other relatives were performed that allowed to prove or exclude relationship and identify the unknown body.