Division of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Int J Legal Med. 2022 Nov;136(6):1889-1896. doi: 10.1007/s00414-022-02893-z. Epub 2022 Sep 22.
The Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Services medico-legal mortuary perform postmortem examinations on all cases of unnatural deaths in the greater Johannesburg metropolitan area, in South Africa. Unidentified decedents can comprise up to 10.0% of the total number of annual admissions at this medico-legal mortuary. To address the identification of the deceased, the Human Decedent Identification Unit (ID Unit) was created to perform secondary examinations for identification purposes. The aim of this study was to report on the identification methods and success rate of the ID Unit. Over a period of 31 months (January 2018-July 2020), unidentified decedents comprised 8.1% (n = 693) of all cases at the Johannesburg mortuary. The ID Unit processed 385 (55.6%) unidentified individuals during this period, who were mostly adult (100%), Black (94.5%), males (91.7%). DNA samples were successfully collected from most cases in the form of hair (96.4%; n = 371), blood (92.2%; n = 355), and nail samples (90.1%; n = 347). Fingerprints retrieved in 65.5% of cases (n = 252). Ultimately, 87 persons (22.6%) were positively identified. Fingerprinting was the most successful method of identification (98.9% of cases; n = 86). One positive identification was facilitated through DNA analysis. The nationalities of the positively identified decedents were from South Africa (52.9%; n = 46), Zimbabwe (5.7%), Uganda (1.1%), Mozambique (1.1%), Malawi (1.1%), South Sudan (1.1%), and undisclosed in 36.8% of cases. Through the collaborative efforts of all the agencies involved, the impact of the work of this ID Unit is vast-not only for South African authorities but most importantly for the decedents and their families.
约翰内斯堡法医病理学服务法医太平间对南非约翰内斯堡大都市区所有非正常死亡案件进行尸检。在这个法医太平间，未识别死者可能占每年入院总数的 10.0%。为了解决死者的身份识别问题，成立了人类死亡鉴定股（ID 股），负责进行二次鉴定以确定身份。本研究旨在报告 ID 股的鉴定方法和成功率。在 31 个月的时间里（2018 年 1 月至 2020 年 7 月），约翰内斯堡太平间的所有案件中有 8.1%（n=693）为未识别死者。在此期间，ID 股处理了 385 名（55.6%）未识别个体，他们大多是成年人（100%）、黑人（94.5%）、男性（91.7%）。从大多数情况下，以头发（96.4%；n=371）、血液（92.2%；n=355）和指甲样本（90.1%；n=347）的形式成功采集了 DNA 样本。在 65.5%的情况下提取了指纹（n=252）。最终，有 87 人（22.6%）被确认为阳性。指纹识别是最成功的识别方法（98.9%的案例；n=86）。一个阳性鉴定是通过 DNA 分析得以实现的。被确认为阳性的死者的国籍分别来自南非（52.9%；n=46）、津巴布韦（5.7%）、乌干达（1.1%）、莫桑比克（1.1%）、马拉维（1.1%）、南苏丹（1.1%）和 36.8%的案例未披露。通过所有相关机构的共同努力，这个 ID 股的工作影响巨大——不仅对南非当局，而且对死者及其家属来说最重要。
