Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory

Holland, David; Byrd, John C.; Sava, Vincent

doi:10.1201/9781420004021.ch4

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Determining the origin of unidentified human remains is problematic when skeletal elements are few, fragmentary and/or degraded, making the determination of biological profiles difficult or impossible, and DNA analysis can be prohibitively expensive and time consuming. This challenge is particularly acute in the DPAA's efforts to identify US service members missing as a result of past conflicts where there may be high levels of fragmentation and degradation as a result of the circumstances of loss and the passage of time (Holland et al 2008;Emanovsky and Belcher 2012). However, if the geographical region of origin for a set of remains can be established, it facilitates identification in two ways: first, it eliminates non-US service members from the identification pipeline; and second, it can potentially narrow the list of possible individuals to consider for identification based on homes of record of missing personnel.…”

Section: Background To Human Identification Using Isotopic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing data comparability in the creation of combined data sets of bioapatite carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions

et al. 2019

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Before amalgamating published isotope data, comparability should be demonstrated. This paper compares carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of 30 enamel samples measured by two laboratories. The aims were to see what, if any, isotopic variation was observed, to determine the causes as needed and to correct if possible. Bioapatite was acidified at 90°C in 2006 and at 26°C in 2017, while δ values were corrected via one‐point normalization in 2006 and by two‐point normalization in 2017. One case (of the 30) produced different δ values between the analysis dates, suggesting contamination. Repeated carbon isotope ratio measurements were not meaningfully different. Repeated oxygen isotope ratio measurements were significantly different, even following correction for acid‐carbonate fractionation at different temperatures and the renormalization of 2017 δ values using one point; however, differences were not meaningful for interpretations. Results were used to calculate real interpretative differences (RIDs) for comparing enamel bioapatite as 0.6‰ for δ13C values and as 1.6‰ for δ18O values.

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Section: Background To Human Identification Using Isotopic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing data comparability in the creation of combined data sets of bioapatite carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions

et al. 2019

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“…This study uses stable isotope analysis for provenancing human remains obtained by the JPAC‐CIL. Human remains of missing service personnel are recovered worldwide from a variety of wartime and conflict situations by JPAC recovery teams, consisting of approximately twelve to fourteen personnel (civilian and military), with a forensic anthropologist assigned as recovery leader (Holland et al ). These recovery missions frequently target known aircraft crash sites, as well as incidents where intelligence has provided possible burial locations of fallen service members.…”

Section: Research Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Stable Isotope Forensics for Predicting Region of Origin of Human Remains From Past Wars and Conflicts

Bartelink

Berg

Beasley

et al. 2014

Annals of Anthropol Pract

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The application of stable isotope analysis has provided novel approaches for provenancing unidentified human remains from forensic contexts. Stable isotope ratios measured in human tissues provide a record of the foods consumed during life as well as the geographic location where drinking water or food was obtained. This study begins with an overview of the application of stable isotope analysis for provenancing human remains, followed by three cases that illustrate how chemical signatures in bone reflect a probable region of origin. Using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human bone, we test whether human skeletal remains recovered by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command‐Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC‐CIL, or CIL) reflect a geographic origin within North America or Asia. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human bone collagen and stable carbon isotopes of bone apatite reflect consumption of food resources that are expected to vary between world regions due to cultural dietary differences. Based on the isotopic differences, a testable hypothesis of geographic origin can be applied, determining if the remains are more likely of a U.S. service person or of an indigenous local. We believe that this approach can provide useful information for narrowing search parameters in unidentified persons cases; can contribute to human rights cases where an unknown individual is thought to originate from a different geographic area; and, in human remains cases of unknown geographic provenience, can determine whether a person is local or nonlocal.

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“…In total, the remains of 859 unidentified Korean War service members were shipped to Hawaii in 1956 and buried as Unknowns at the NMCP, also known as the Punchbowl [ 7 ]. In 1999, the then Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI, now called the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)) [ 13 ], undertook a fledgling exhumation program focused on identifying Korean War Unknowns at NMCP. Working in concert with the CILHI, the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (a division of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES-AFDIL)) attempted DNA testing of the first five exhumed cases using standard forensic DNA profiling techniques [ 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient DNA Methods Improve Forensic DNA Profiling of Korean War and World War II Unknowns

Zavala

Thomas²,

Sturk-Andreaggi

et al. 2022

Genes

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The integration of massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology into forensic casework has been of particular benefit to the identification of unknown military service members. However, highly degraded or chemically treated skeletal remains often fail to provide usable DNA profiles, even with sensitive mitochondrial (mt) DNA capture and MPS methods. In parallel, the ancient DNA field has developed workflows specifically for degraded DNA, resulting in the successful recovery of nuclear DNA and mtDNA from skeletal remains as well as sediment over 100,000 years old. In this study we use a set of disinterred skeletal remains from the Korean War and World War II to test if ancient DNA extraction and library preparation methods improve forensic DNA profiling. We identified an ancient DNA extraction protocol that resulted in the recovery of significantly more human mtDNA fragments than protocols previously used in casework. In addition, utilizing single-stranded rather than double-stranded library preparation resulted in increased attainment of reportable mtDNA profiles. This study emphasizes that the combination of ancient DNA extraction and library preparation methods evaluated here increases the success rate of DNA profiling, and likelihood of identifying historical remains.

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Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Addressing data comparability in the creation of combined data sets of bioapatite carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions

Addressing data comparability in the creation of combined data sets of bioapatite carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions

Application of Stable Isotope Forensics for Predicting Region of Origin of Human Remains From Past Wars and Conflicts

Ancient DNA Methods Improve Forensic DNA Profiling of Korean War and World War II Unknowns

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