NCJ Number
134469
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1992) Pages: 332-336
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Premortem and postmortem radiographs of the chest and abdomen are often available for comparison and provide a basis for making or rejecting an identification.
Abstract
The case reported here exemplifies the way that individualizing features, such as contours of bony elements, skeletal anomalies, and radiodensities and radiolucencies, are used to establish personal identity. The case involved a skeleton suspected of being that of a 76-year-old white male found in a heavily wooded area in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. When the body was found, bones were skeletonized except for remnants of dessicated ligaments holding the hips, knees, feet, and lower spine together. Based on the season when recovered, the terrain, the degree of skeletonization, sun bleaching, soil staining, and lack of odor, it was estimated the individual had been dead for about 2 years. The police provided the investigators with a premortem radiograph of the abdomen, pelvis, and upper leg portions of a suspected decedent. Ten similar skeletal features were noted on premortem and postmortem radiographs, and the investigators were able to establish a positive personal identity with reasonable scientific certainty. 5 references and 3 figures (Author abstract modified)