After a mass fatality incident, friends and family members will provide authorities with personal items that may contain a missing person’s DNA. The DNA profile obtained from the personal item(s) will be searched against the profiles obtained from the remains samples. To efficiently and effectively use DNA analysis to identify human remains, it is important that personal items be correctly identified.
The purpose of this sample form is to help a laboratory:
After a mass fatality incident, a missing person’s friends and family members provide identification information to officials who are handling the recovery and identification efforts. Complicated family structures—for example, multiple marriages, adoptions, same-sex partners—present challenges in collecting family relationship information.
Obtaining an accurate family structure helps minimize gaps in information.
The information requested in this sample form is quite comprehensive, including a description of the jewelry worn by the missing individual, dental history, and a list of family members who may be able to provide DNA samples for the kinship identification process. This information typically is stored in the Victim Identification Program (VIP), a database supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). VIP is the central repository of all missing individual identification information, which can be accessed by pathologists, laboratory personnel, and medical examiners who are involved in the identification process.
Once family members have been identified and documented in the VIP, DNA samples need to be collected. Collection kits—used to collect the family and donor reference samples to determine biological relationships—should be available at family assistance centers and can be sent to family members all over the world.
The purpose of this sample form is to assist the laboratory in:
The complexity of modern family structures (e.g., multiple marriages, adoptions, same-sex partners) can challenge the collection of family relationship information. The purpose of this Sample Family Tree Form is to help a laboratory:
This type of form should be completed each time someone provides information about a missing individual and/or donates a sample. Because of the complexity of determining biological relationships, it generally is advisable to have a trained interviewer—such as a geneticist or genetic counselor—complete the form.
Go to Next Section: Appendix E: Guidelines for Family and/or Donor Reference Collection Kit Components and Oral Swab Collection Instructions
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