Marrying anthropology and DNA: Essential for solving complex commingling problems in cases of extreme fragmentation

Abstract

On September 11, 2001, 10 terrorists using two planes attacked the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City. Although this is often thought of as one large event, it was actually four separate disasters (two aircraft crashes and two building collapses) that occurred almost simultaneously and in the same general location. The destruction left 2,749 people dead and more than 20,000 individual pieces of human remains. Jurisdiction fell to the City of New York, and it became the job of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) to identify the remains. As might be expected with a disaster of this scale and with such extensive body fragmentation, the identification process was (and is to this day) an extremely complicated endeavor. The goal of this chapter is to highlight some of the challenges and to point out the integral role that both anthropology and DNA played in the process. This chapter will proceed in two sections. The first section will provide an historical overview of the identification process used to identify victims? remains from theWTC disaster. This was an evolving process that adjusted over time as new techniques were developed to address novel challenges. It focuses on the increasingly complex techniques used to extract DNA, as well as the processes implemented to address identification discrepancies. Specifically, it will discuss the development of a "special projects group" to work on the more complex cases, and the Final Anthropological Review (FAR) program, which was implemented for quality control purposes. The procedures for both the special projects group and FAR highlight the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in troubleshooting problem cases in any sizable mass fatality incident. The second section will provide a series of case examples illustrating some mistakes encountered with the identification of WTC victims and how the problems were resolved. Overall, the work of the OCME and ancillary agencies involved in the identifications has been the highest possible quality, given the current restrictions of the technology. Indeed, as will be discussed below, the science of DNA identification was pushed forward by the efforts and expertise of those working on this project. Also, the OCME has embraced an admirable policy of transparency, allowing both successes and setbacks to be discussed openly in a variety of scientific venues. The overriding purpose of this chapter is to provide future practitioners and policy makers a means of learning from the adaptations made over the course of the WTC identification project as they plan and implement programs in response to future events.