Recovery Of Remains Research Articles

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

AbstractThe 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 unique case of highly commingled human remains, involving thousands of missing persons from varied proveniences, highlights the challenges and successes of a multi‐disciplinary approach involving historians, anthropologists, odontologists, and DNA and isotope specialists at the forefront, while also working with family members towards resolution. As of December 31, 2020, the KWIP has identified a total of 591 service members and continues to seek ways to innovate and improve both the quantity and quality of its work.This article is categorized under: Forensic Anthropology > Anthropology in Mass Disaster & War Crime Contexts Forensic Biology > Forensic DNA Technologies Forensic Medicine > Historical Perspectives

The recovery of asteroid 2008 TC3

Abstract– On October 7, 2008, asteroid 2008 TC3 impacted Earth and fragmented at 37 km altitude above the Nubian Desert in northern Sudan. The area surrounding the asteroid’s approach path was searched, resulting in the first recovery of meteorites from an asteroid observed in space. This was also the first recovery of remains from a fragile “cometary” PE = IIIa/b type fireball. In subsequent searches, over 600 mostly small 0.2–379 g meteorites (named “Almahata Sitta”) with a total mass 10.7 kg were recovered from a 30 × 7 km area. Meteorites fell along the track at 1.3 kg km−1, nearly independent of mass between 1 and 400 g, with a total fallen mass of 39 ± 6 kg. The strewn field was shifted nearly 1.8 km south from the calculated approach path. The influence of winds on the distribution of the meteorites, and on the motion of the dust train, is investigated. The majority of meteorites are ureilites with densities around 2.8 g cm−3, some of an anomalous (porous, high in carbon) polymict ureilite variety with densities as low as 1.5 g cm−3. In addition, an estimated 20–30% (in mass) of recovered meteorites were ordinary, enstatite, and carbonaceous chondrites. Their fresh look and matching distribution of fragments in the strewn field imply that they were part of 2008 TC3. For that reason, they are all referred to as “Almahata Sitta.” No ureilite meteorites were found that still held foreign clasts, suggesting that the asteroid’s clasts were only loosely bound.

Informe sobre los restos de fauna recuperados en el Corte E (1983-1995) de la Peña Negra (Crevillente, Alicante)

Se ofrece un análisis de los restos óseos recuperados en el yacimiento del Bronce Final de La Peña Negra (Crevillente, Alicante). El material estudiado consiste en una muestra preseleccionada por el excavador, lo que explica la ausencia de especímenes inidentificables, la anormal abundancia de huesos completos y la inexistencia de restos por debajo de una talla crítica. Ello obliga a ser cautos a la hora de valorar la fuente de subsistencia de estas gentes: bóvidos u ovinos. Las hipótesis formuladas en este trabajo deberán ser contrastadas con los resultados del análisis de la totalidad de la fauna del mismo nivel.

The Usage of Wild Berries and Other Fruits in the Mediaeval and Post-mediaeval Households in Norway

Summary This paper is a discussion of the significance of the recovery of remains of berries and other fruits from mediaeval and later layers at six Norwegian sites including Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim.

Recovery of Decomposed and Skeletal Human Remains in the “Green River Murder” Investigation

The Green River Murder Investigation in King County, Washington, is currently the longest active serial murder investigation in U.S. history. During its course, over 26 separate scenes with from one to five victims each have been processed. The experience of the authors is presented in order to acquaint other agencies with techniques of outdoor scene processing that have evolved during recovery of remains from Green River and other skeletal cases.