Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A standalone humanitarian DNA identification database system to increase identification of human remains of foreign nationals

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
International Journal of Legal Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The identification of missing persons and human remains is a worldwide problem which has been exacerbated with increased migrations and rampant human trafficking and smuggling cases. DNA typing and DNA databases are primary tools and resources used to help identify human remains and missing persons. The foundation of most, if not all, national DNA database systems, e.g., CODIS, is law enforcement identification. With such database systems, compliance with statutory and operational requirements is necessary to ensure the integrity of the databases. However, because of conditions in their homelands, relatives of missing persons at times may not trust the government and may be reluctant to contact a law enforcement agency, making it difficult to satisfy the law enforcement nexus necessary for entry into a national DNA database. A potential solution to increase the identification of unidentified human remains found within the USA, such as those that may be of foreign nationals, the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) has created a Humanitarian DNA Identification DNA Database (HDID) that enables family reference sample DNA profiles from non-US citizens to be compared with the DNA profiles from unidentified human remains within its local database system. This short communication describes the needs, basis, policies, and practices to inform the scientific, investigative, and legal communities and the public so that various entities may become aware and consider submitting family reference sample (FRS) profiles from foreign nationals for the purpose of searching against UNTCHI’s HDID. It is our hope that by creating this HDID, another vehicle is available to support identification of human remains within the USA and to bring much needed answers to the family members of missing persons. The HDID will merge high forensic quality and best practices with the broader accessibility for non-US families to voluntarily donate DNA profiles for searching for missing loved ones.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. How Much Does the Region Lose in Crime? Central American Data.com. At https://en.centralamericadata.com/en/article/home/How_Much_Does_the_Region_Lose_in_Crime. Accessed April 4, 2020

  2. Human trafficking vs human smuggling. The Cornerstone Report, Vol XIII #1, Summer 2017. At: https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/docReport/Report/2017/CSReport-13-1.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2020

  3. UNODC on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. At https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/. Accessed 4 Apr 2020

  4. Human trafficking by the numbers. Human rights first (2017) At https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/human-trafficking-numbers. Accessed 4 Aug 2020

  5. Southwest Border Deaths by Fiscal Year. https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/docReport/2020-Jan/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Fiscal%20Year%20Southwest%20Border%20Sector%20Deaths%20%28FY%201998%20-%20FY%202019%29_0.pdf. Accessed April 4, 2020

  6. Ritter N (2007) Missing persons and unidentified remains: our nation’s silent mass disaster, US Department of Justice. NIJ J 256:2–7 At https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/jr000256.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2020

  7. Hickman M, Hughes K, Strom K, Ropero-Miller J (2007) Medical examiners and coroners’ offices, 2004, Office of Justice Programs, NCJ 216756. At: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/meco04.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2020

  8. Cattaneo C, Porta D, De Angelis D (2010) Unidentified bodies and human remains: an Italian glimpse through a European problem. Forensic Sci Int 195(1-3):167.el–167.e6

  9. Identifying Missing Persons and Unidentified Decedents. (2012) US Department of Justice, NIJ. At: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/identifying-missing-persons-and-unidentified-decedents. Accessed 4 Aug 2020

  10. Budowle B, Bieber FR, Eisenberg AJ (2005) Forensic aspects of mass disasters: strategic considerations for DNA-based human identification. Legal Med 7(4):230–243

  11. Budowle B, Moretti TR, Niezgoda SJ, Brown BL (1998) CODIS and PCR-based short tandem repeat loci: law enforcement tools in: Second European Symposium on Human Identification 1998, Promega Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin, pp 73–88 Madison: Promega Corporation. At https://promega.media/-/media/files/resources/conference-proceedings/ishi-02/oral-presentations/17.pdf?la=en. Accessed 4 Aug 2020

  12. Martin PD, Schmitter H, Schneider PM (2001) A brief history of the formation of DNA databases in forensic science within Europe. Forensic Sci Int 119:225–231

  13. Martin PD (2004) National DNA databases: practice and practicability. A forum for discussion. Prog Forensic Genet 10:1–8

  14. Frequently Asked Questions on CODIS and NDIS. At https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/codis-and-ndis-fact-sheet. Accessed April 4, 2020.

  15. Texas Department of Public Safety. Intelligence & Counterterrorism Division Missing Persons Clearinghouse Unidentified Persons/DNA Unit. State and Federal Missing and Unidentified Persons Statutes. 2017–2018. Issued by The Texas Department of Public Safety Austin, Texas. At https://www.dps.texas.gov/internetforms/Forms/MP-13.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2020

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would especially like to thank Patricia Aagaard, Paula Pagano, and Noreen Ahmed for their very thoughtful and helpful comments regarding the content of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Human Identification, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd, CBH-250, Ft Worth, TX, 76107, USA

    Bruce Budowle, Magdalena M. Bus, Melody A. Josserand & Dixie L. Peters

  2. Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Ft Worth, TX, 76107, USA

    Bruce Budowle & Magdalena M. Bus

Authors
  1. Bruce Budowle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Magdalena M. Bus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Melody A. Josserand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dixie L. Peters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bruce Budowle.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

Not applicable

Informed consent

None for generation of the subject matter, but forms required before reference samples are submitted to the database (as described in the paper)

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 235 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Budowle, B., Bus, M.M., Josserand, M.A. et al. A standalone humanitarian DNA identification database system to increase identification of human remains of foreign nationals. Int J Legal Med 134, 2039–2044 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02396-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02396-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation