Identifying the missing and the dead: as forensic DNA technology improves, new opportunities emerge to solve cases of missing persons and unidentified remains.

• Author: Hammond, Sarah

Just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks turned the World Trade Center into a smoldering Ground Zero, the National Institute of Justice convened a panel of experts to develop a process for identifying thousands of victims using DNA collected at the site of the tragedy.

The result was a customized version of CODIS, the FBI's DNA index system, created to match the DNA from victims of the attack with that provided by their relatives. The efforts led to the identification of more than a quarter of those reported missing.

Four years later, the same system was used to identify more than 100 victims of hurricane Katrina. The bodies were so badly decomposed by the high temperatures and water that DNA testing was the only way to find out who they were.

The Department of Justice helped with the cost. It awarded $1.5 million to the University of North Texas and another $4.4 million to Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi to help with the huge undertaking.

DNA DISCOVERIES

The DNA technology that has become integral to investigation of criminal cases is now being put to work to help solve an estimated 40,000 cases of unidentified human remains. In most of these cases a family somewhere is seeking answers.

"DNA testing can make a big difference, but it's not being used like it could be," says John Morgan, director of Science and Technology for the National Institute of Justice.

Morgan says states need to tap into the improved DNA analysis methods used to identify World Trade Center victims. The Justice Department is working with state and local governments to help expand their capacity for forensic DNA technology to identify missing persons and unidentified human remains. Law enforcement agencies in 38 jurisdictions nationwide were awarded $14.2 million in 2005 to help solve "cold" cases and identify missing persons using DNA evidence.

The FBI's Missing Persons DNA Database contains DNA profiles of relatives of missing persons. The system also can accept genetic samples from material known to belong to the victim, such as hair from a comb or a sample taken from the victim's toothbrush. It also contains DNA profiles of unidentified human remains. States have only recently begun to conduct DNA analysis on human remains and to submit the results to the FBI and develop their own databases.

"The more information loaded into the CODIS system from across the country, the better chance we have in solving crimes and identifying missing persons," says Texas...