The Instituto de Ciencias Forenses (ICF) in Puerto Rico is working to identify 494 bodies that have arrived at the institution without a defined identity so far this year. The ICF’s Unidad de Identificación Humana (UIH), composed of four scientists, including two anthropologists and two interviewers, aims to return the names to these individuals and remove them from the limbo they are in.
The team uses various methods, including reconstructing the person’s history from available information such as an address, fingerprint, or DNA sample. In August, the ICF and the Policía de Puerto Rico held the first Día de las Personas Desaparecidas, where 91 family members were interviewed and 72 biological samples were collected to help find missing persons, alive or dead, in Puerto Rico or elsewhere.
The ICF’s director, Dr. María Conte Miller, expressed surprise at the high turnout, with 56 family members interviewed in Bayamón and 35 in Mayagüez. The UIH director, Meisshialette Ortiz Quiñones, explained that the team works on all types of cases, including those that require scientific methods due to the circumstances, making it impossible for a family member to identify the person through a photo.