Rodriguez Ashley L, Smiley-McDonald Hope M, Cummings M Stirling, Wire Sean, Slack Donia, Williams Christopher L, Keyes Kelly A, Ropero-Miller Jeri D
RTI International, 3040 East Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.
Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2022 Mar 28;4:100225. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2022.100225. eCollection 2022.
Each year, thousands of unidentified human remains (UHR) cases are reported in the U.S. Technological advances have greatly enhanced the forensic community's capacity and capability to solve UHR cases, but little is known about the extent to which these resources are used by medical examiners and coroners (MECs). Using public datasets, the study purpose is to describe the current state MEC system with respect to UHR cases, the resources used to investigate these cases, and the evidence retention polices in place. There was an overall decline in UHR cases reported between 2004 and 2018. Less than half of MECs in both study years reported having established written final disposition and evidence retention policies for UHR cases. National missing persons databases were underused. This study provides an important window into the present state of UHRs being handled by our Nation's MEC offices and the resources available to solve these difficult cases.
在美国，每年都会报告数千起身份不明的人类遗骸（UHR）案件。技术进步极大地提高了法医界解决UHR案件的能力，但对于法医和验尸官（MEC）使用这些资源的程度却知之甚少。本研究利用公共数据集，旨在描述MEC系统在UHR案件方面的现状、用于调查这些案件的资源以及现行的证据保留政策。2004年至2018年间，报告的UHR案件总体呈下降趋势。在这两个研究年份中，不到一半的MEC报告称已为UHR案件制定了书面的最终处置和证据保留政策。国家失踪人员数据库未得到充分利用。本研究为我国MEC办公室处理UHR案件的现状以及解决这些疑难案件可利用的资源提供了一个重要窗口。
