engleski

Dental identification of bodies exhumed from the mass grave "Ovčara"

Two hundered bodies were exhumed from the mass grave "OVČARA": 198 males and 2 females.Physicians for Human Rights and the Hague Tribunal International Committee members were present during the exhumation. Three forensic odontologists participated in the identification process - one was a permanent member of the DVI team and two were temporary members. By 1st April 1998, 104 (52%) bodies had been identified, while 96 (48%) bodies remained unidentified (until the date of reporting). Dental identification (DI) by a.m. data was achived in 37% of the identified cases. The most frequent source of information for DI were dental chats 30%, followed by interviews with relatives 28%, photographs 27%, X-rays 10%, and the witnessing of dentists 4%. In one case DI was achieved by comparing the technical cluster model of the porcelain bridges belonging to one victim from the mass grave "OVČARA". Teeth were used for the identification of several bodies through DNA isolation and typing processes. Dental characteristics were helpful for identification of the next 46% of cases, where other identification methods were predominant. DI emerged as a predominant identification method for identification of war victims which is continuing in Croatia.

mass grave; teeth; victims; forensic odontology; war

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