Identification of human skeletal remains of missing persons: an integrated forensic radiological, odontological, anthropological and pathological approach to an emerging public issue
Identification of human remains is necessary in modern society for legal, social, and ethical reasons. The need to reach the attribution of identity, in fact, arises not only from worship needs and feelings of human piety towards the deceased but also from considerations of a legal and administrative nature. From 1974 until 2017, 52990 people (9380 Italians and 43610 foreigners) have disappeared in Italy and are still to be traced. 863 unidentified bodies were found in the aforementioned period, of which 231 in Latium Region. In consideration of the importance of the phenomenon, the Italian Government appointed an Extraordinary Commissioner for Missing Persons who was tasked for assessing the total number of unidentified bodies and suggesting appropriate strategies and coordination among the various stakeholders. In the context of these activities, in 2017 a campaign was started for identification of all the human bodies and remains still unidentified and buried in the cemeteries of Rome.
The ultimate goal of this project is to obtain the personal identification of unknown corpses through a multidisciplinary activity that involves various disciplines including Forensic Pathology, Forensic Radiology, Forensic Odontology and Forensic Anthropology. Results arising from the anthropological activity will be correlated with results from radiological, odontological and pathological forensic activities and compared with the data obtained from the authority.
The integration of the methods currently in use will provide an identifying profile for each exhumed human skeletal remains, demonstrating that the proposed experimental approaches are complementary elements in a single working method able to provide reliable results for identification of unidentified bodies.