Forensic clues offer hope

Karen Zekan

Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998 | 10:39 a.m.

Coroners never know if the bodies brought to them are going to mean hours or days of work. Or months or years.

Cases can be as routine as a body found with no ID, no fingerprints on file and no relatives trying to track them down. Worst-case scenarios are the bodies in advanced stages of decomposition, where dehydration has warped the fingers or rot has eaten away the flesh.

But forensic science can sometimes gain the upper hand. Fingers pruned from decay can be severed from the hand, soaked in a chemical solution and plumped smooth to then ink and roll. Even a partial print with gaps of missing flesh will likely have ridges that an expert can use to make a comparison.

Fingerprint examiners, however, need something from when the person was alive for comparison, like prints from a work card or an arrest made before the person disappeared.

Deaths fall under one of four classifications: natural, accidental, suicide and homicide. Most are natural, from disease, failing health, old age. Approximately 250 cases in the Las Vegas Valley each year are suicides. And the valley averages more than 150 homicide cases a year.

By Thursday, 5,479 bodies had passed through the coroner's office this year, and every one had fingerprints made -- if fingers were available.

X-rays are another identification tool. If a possible identity of a John or Jane Doe is discovered, a call to that missing person's doctor or dentist can provide films to work with.

Dental X-rays taken in 1944 helped identify the body of a man found in 1995 without any teeth. A dental expert made the finding in pictures taken of the man's gums: wedged among roots of teeth no longer there was a tiny tooth that had never erupted through the gumline -- the same white nub captured on film 50 years before.

X-rays also solved the 1991 case of a skull found in the Las Vegas desert. Coroner's investigators detected the appearance of a damaged nose, and when searching through a national database, found a woman reported missing who had had facial surgery.

Investigators contacted the family, got X-rays released from their missing relative's doctor, and when they laid their film atop that of the doctor, came up with a perfect match -- from the sinus cavities to the eye sockets to the crooked nose bones.

When investigative efforts meet dead ends, John and Jane Does must be disposed of for public health concerns and lack of space. By law, the coroner has the right to make such a decision.

The county's public administrator facilitates the arrangements, and it is up to Social Services to make the decision on cremation or burial. Most unidentified bodies are cremated; any hint of religious preference -- a Star of David found on the body or a cross -- would generally result in burial.

The case file, however, stays at the coroner's office -- a reference should a call come years later from a family member or detective working a lead.