Identification Using Antemortem Records - Lecture 21 Flashcards
Why is establishing identification important?
to legally declare someone deceased for legal things like insurance or inheritance
What are the monikers of the unidentified?
- John Doe
- unidentified male - Jane Doe
- unidentified female - J Doe
- unidentified adult - Baby Doe
- baby of unidentified sex - Baby Boy Doe
- Baby Girl Doe
What are the 3 types of identification?
- tentative / presumptive
- like a key or a wallet found on them - probable
- sex estimation and age estimation
- things done in this class - positive (personal)
- so unique that the identifiers mark that individual to the exclusion of all others
What methods fall under probable identification?
- biological profile
- age, sex, stature, human variation - non-metric traits
- pathology
- activity markers
- postmortem interval
- photographic superimposition
What is bilateral asymmetry? How can it help with probable identification? How is it connected to handedness?
- bilateral asymmetry is when one side is different from the other
- can be used for portable identification because it is an activity marker for someone who has been doing a sport or something since childhood would have indicators of one side being stronger than the other since the muscles are growing while the bone is still in development
- it is connected to handedness because it shows someone’s preference for using a specific hand or side of their body more
What is auditory exostosis? How is it an activity marker that can be used for probable identification?
- a result of consistent diving into cold water
- from an activity like deep sea fishing
- the cold water aggravates the ear and promotes the body to respond by growing more bone within the ear
- causes hearing impairment
- it can indicate that someone frequently swam or dove into cold water
What is photographic superimposition?
- physically overlaying a photo of the skull with a photo of the person you think the skull belongs to
- needs to be a close up or portrait image preferably with teeth showing
What methods fall under positive/personal identification?
- Radiography (x-ray)
- looking at sinuses, trabecular bone pattern, cranial suture pattern - Surgical Devices
- Dental Records
- includes DNA
How can the frontal sinuses be so accurate for personal identification?
if a person has frontal sinuses they can be used to identify a person since they are distinct
What are the parts of the frontal sinus that need to be evaluated to get a positive match? For anthroposcopic observation.
- Septum
- Right Cell
- Left Cell
- Scalloped Superior Border
- Medial Cells
What parts of the sinus can you measure for a positive identification?
- Size of each cell
- Differences between right and left cells
- are the cells symmetrical?
- only right/left cell present?
- cells in contact with each other?
- how far apart are the cells? - Degree of deflection of septum (right/left)
- Amount of scalloping on upper border
- Degree of merging with ethmoid sinus
What are the problems with using frontal sinus x-rays?
- orientation of both pre and post mortem radiographs must be the same
- premortem radiograph must be clear
- not everyone has a frontal sinus
What are other sinus radiographs to look for?
- maxillary sinus
- ethmoid sinus
- sphenoid sinus
- mastoid sinus
What may be the issue with using radiographs to compare trabecular structures? Why?
- trabecular structure does change over time so they need to be relatively close in time
- changes due to hormones
What are the basic things you need to compare with any radiograph?
- are the pre and postmortem radiographs consistent with any other individual with no unexplainable differences?
- are the pre and postmortem radiographs consistent with each other?
- do you have sufficient information to include or exclude anyone from the possible victim?
What kinds of surgical devices are there?
pins, plates, screws, prosthetic devices
Why are surgical devices so accurate? How does identifying the person through the surgical device work?
- because they have serial numbers that coincide with the hospital where the surgery was done
- need to match the number with the hospital and see the records if the person you think is the victim every had surgery there
