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Percentage of Body Recovered and Its Effect on Identification Rates and Cause and Manner of Death Determination *
Author(s) -
Komar Debra A.,
Potter Wendy E.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2007.00417.x
Subject(s) - autopsy , manner of death , cause of death , medical examiner , time of death , forensic anthropology , dead body , medicine , demography , mortality rate , poison control , injury prevention , emergency medicine , disease , history , archaeology , sociology
Anthropologists frequently encounter cases in which only partial human remains are recovered. This study reports how the percentage of the body recovered affects identification (ID) rates and cause and manner of death determination. A total of 773 cases involving anthropology consults were drawn from the New Mexico medical examiner's office (1974–2006). Results indicate a significant correlation between body percent recovered and ID rates, which ranged from 89% for complete bodies to 56% when less than half the body was present. Similar patterns were evident in cause/manner determination, which were the highest (83% and 79%, respectively) in complete bodies but declined to 40% when less than half the body was found. The absence of a skull also negatively impacted ID and ruling rates. Findings are compared with general autopsy ID rates (94–96%) and cause/manner determination rates (96–99%) as well as prior published rates for individual casework and mass death events.