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

Camilla F. Speller; Kirsty L. Spalding; Bruce A. Buchholz; Dean Hildebrand; Jason Moore; Rolf Mathewes; Mark F. Skinner; Dongya Y. Yang

doi:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x

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

Camilla F. Speller, Kirsty L. Spalding, Bruce A. Buchholz, Dean Hildebrand, Jason Moore, Rolf Mathewes, Mark F. Skinner, Dongya Y. Yang

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1354-1360
Number of pages	7
Journal	JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES
Volume	57
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x
Publication status	Published - Sept 2012

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title = "Personal Identification of Cold Case Remains Through Combined Contribution from Anthropological, mtDNA, and Bomb-Pulse Dating Analyses",

abstract = "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.",

author = "Speller, {Camilla F.} and Spalding, {Kirsty L.} and Buchholz, {Bruce A.} and Dean Hildebrand and Jason Moore and Rolf Mathewes and Skinner, {Mark F.} and Yang, {Dongya Y.}",

year = "2012",

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doi = "10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x",

language = "English",

volume = "57",

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T1 - Personal Identification of Cold Case Remains Through Combined Contribution from Anthropological, mtDNA, and Bomb-Pulse Dating Analyses

AU - Speller, Camilla F.

AU - Spalding, Kirsty L.

AU - Buchholz, Bruce A.

AU - Hildebrand, Dean

AU - Moore, Jason

AU - Mathewes, Rolf

AU - Skinner, Mark F.

AU - Yang, Dongya Y.

PY - 2012/9

Y1 - 2012/9

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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U2 - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x

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JO - JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES

JF - JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES

IS - 5

ER -

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

Abstract

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