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Personal Identification of Cold Case Remains Through Combined Contribution from Anthropological, mt DNA , and Bomb‐Pulse Dating Analyses
Author(s) -
Speller Camilla F.,
Spalding Kirsty L.,
Buchholz Bruce A.,
Hildebrand Dean,
Moore Jason,
Mathewes Rolf,
Skinner Mark F.,
Yang Dongya Y.
Publication year - 2012
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.1556-4029.2012.02223.x
Subject(s) - radiocarbon dating , forensic science , mitochondrial dna , forensic anthropology , archaeology , history , biology , genetics , gene
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 mt DNA analyses in producing confident personal identifications for forensic cold cases dating to within the last 60 years.