Forensic identification of personality: skull as a key element of person identification (a case report)

One of the most sophisticated types of examinations conducted in forensic practice is person identification. If genetic data are available for comparison, the identification of an unidentified cadaver is currently not challenging. The methods given in the report have shown their reliability and effectiveness for the identification of unidentified cadavers.

This case report describes a case of an extremely problematic identification of a deceased person. The medical and forensic department received fragments of an unknown cadaver found on the lake shore (skull with lower jaw, symphysis and proximal ends of the humerus and femur). Sex, age, and race were established during the examination, and the specific dental features promoted the reliable identification of the deceased person. The law enforcement investigation gave grounds to assume that the cadaver was the missing male K., a native of Kazakhstan, whose data coincided with the results of forensic medical examination. This was confirmed by the correlation analysis of craniometric landmarks at the lifetime picture and the skull picture by combining the images of the K.’s head and the skull of an unknown man.

Anatomical features of skull and teeth are significant in forensic identification; its scrupulous analysis contributes to the accuracy of the identification of missing persons. It is crucial to continue the development of technologies and methods of identification, which is especially relevant in the light of a special military operation, with a high demand for identification of deceased persons, including among civilians, yet the availability of genetic research is absent.