NCJ Number
220046
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 34 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 46,48,53
Date Published
August 2007
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article describes the rationale and protocol used by the Clark County Coroner's Cold Case Unit (Las Vegas, NV) in soliciting the identification of unknown deceased victims through facial and other identifying images placed on an Internet Web site
Abstract
Before the images of a victim are placed on the Web site, the cold case unit exhausts every forensic option for identifying the person. The protocol followed is that recommended by the International Homicide Investigators Association, the National Association of Medical Examiners, and the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners. The checklist of identifying procedures includes taking an identification photo; describing the clothing worn by the victim; and advanced procedures such as forensic odontology (victim's distinctive dental characteristics), X-rays, and DNA matching. If these identification procedures do not yield an identification, a photo of the deceased and other information relevant to an identification is posted on the Web site. Photos may be touched up with computer editing in order to enhance features for identification, and artist sketches are used when the victim's face is too disfigured to post online. Although some initial reactions to the creation of the Web site were negative--with the media and some medical examiner's offices describing the site as macabre, inappropriate, and disrespectful of the dead and their families--the success of the site quieted this criticism. The first identification was made within 24 hours of the launching of the Web site. Three additional identifications were made within the first 2 months. Eight decedents were identified in 2004, six in 2005, and one in 2007. Both the public and law enforcement agencies have used the site to make successful identifications. This article provides a detailed description of how the Web site was created.