Speller Camilla F, Spalding Kirsty L, Buchholz Bruce A, Hildebrand Dean, Moore Jason, Mathewes Rolf, Skinner Mark F, Yang Dongya Y
Centre for Forensic Research, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
J Forensic Sci. 2012 Sep;57(5):1354-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x. Epub 2012 Jul 16.
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.
1968年，在加拿大北部一条河流的岸边发现了一个儿童的颅骨，并被妥善保管，直到2005年这起“悬案”重新展开调查。该颅骨在西蒙弗雷泽大学法医研究中心进行了重新分析，采用了最近开发的人类学分析、“炸弹脉冲”放射性碳分析和法医DNA技术。颅骨测量、骨骼骨化和牙齿形成情况表明死亡年龄为4.4±1岁。对两颗牙齿的牙釉质进行的放射性碳分析显示出生年份在1958年至1962年之间。法医DNA分析表明该儿童为男性，所获得的线粒体图谱与推测失踪儿童的一位在世母系亲属相匹配。这些多学科分析在遗体发现41年后实现了法律身份鉴定，凸显了将放射性碳分析与人类学和线粒体DNA分析相结合，为过去60年内的法医悬案进行可靠个人身份鉴定的巨大潜力。
