The 2018 California Wildfires: Integration of Rapid DNA to Dramatically Accelerate Victim Identification.

Journal of Forensic Sciences
Kim GinRichard F Selden

Abstract

In November 2018, Butte County, California, was decimated by the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in state history. Over 150,000 acres were destroyed, and at its peak, the fire consumed eighty acres per minute. The speed and intensity of the oncoming flames killed scores of people, and weeks before the fire was contained, first responders began searching through the rubble of 18,804 residences and commercial buildings. As with most mass disasters, conventional identification modalities (e.g., fingerprints, odontology, hardware) were utilized to identify victims. The intensity and duration of the fire severely degraded most of the remains, and these approaches were useful in only 22 of 84 cases. In the past, the remaining cases would have been subjected to conventional DNA analysis, which may have required months to years. Instead, Rapid DNA technology was utilized (in a rented recreational vehicle outside the Sacramento morgue) in the victim identification effort. Sixty-nine sets of remains were subjected to Rapid DNA Identification and, of these, 62 (89.9%) generated short tandem repeat profiles that were subjected to familial searching; essentially all these profiles were produced within hours of sample receipt. Samples succ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 23, 2021·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Nicole HintonKevin P McNamara
May 16, 2021·Forensic Science International. Genetics·April M ManzellaLilliana I Moreno
Aug 27, 2021·Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine·Naresh KumarShivkant Sharma
Oct 14, 2021·International Journal of Legal Medicine·Jennifer Churchill CihlarBruce Budowle

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
chips
PCR
chip
electrophoresis

Software Mentioned

FlexPlex27
CollectInsertSizeMetrics
FlexPlex
ANDE
FAIRS
Picard

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