Personal Identification of Cold Case Remains Through Combined Contribution from Anthropological, mtDNA, and Bomb‐Pulse Dating Analyses

• Published in: Journal of forensic sciences Vol. 57; no. 5; pp. 1354 - 1360
• Main Authors: Speller, Camilla F., Spalding, Kirsty L., Buchholz, Bruce A., Hildebrand, Dean, Moore, Jason, Mathewes, Rolf, Skinner, Mark F., Yang, Dongya Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2012
• Subjects: accelerator mass spectrometry; Age Determination by Skeleton - methods; Age Determination by Teeth - methods; Amelogenin - genetics; ancient DNA; Birth; bomb‐pulse; Canada; Cephalometry; Child, Preschool; cold case; dental enamel; Dental Enamel - chemistry; Dentition, Permanent; DNA Fingerprinting; DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics; Forensic anthropology; Forensic Anthropology - methods; Forensic Dentistry - methods; forensic science; Human remains; Humans; Identification; interdisciplinary; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Microsatellite Repeats; Mitochondrial DNA; Osteogenesis; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Populus; Radiography, Dental; Radiometric Dating; short tandem repeat; Skull; Teeth; Tooth Apex - diagnostic imaging; Tooth Apex - growth & development
• ISSN: 0022-1198; 1556-4029; 1556-4029
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x

In 1968, a child's cranium was recovered from the banks of a northern Canadian river and held in a trust until the “cold case” was reopened in 2005. The cranium underwent reanalysis at the Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, using recently developed anthropological analysis, “bomb‐pulse” radiocarbon analysis, and forensic DNA techniques. Craniometrics, skeletal ossification, and dental formation indicated an age‐at‐death of 4.4 ± 1 year. Radiocarbon analysis of enamel from two teeth indicated a year of birth between 1958 and 1962. Forensic DNA analysis indicated the child was a male, and the obtained mitochondrial profile matched a living maternal relative to the presumed missing child. These multidisciplinary analyses resulted in a legal identification 41 years after the discovery of the remains, highlighting the enormous potential of combining radiocarbon analysis with anthropological and mtDNA analyses in producing confident personal identifications for forensic cold cases dating to within the last 60 years.