The medical examiner’s primary goal in most situations will be to identify the victims and issue death certificates. In a natural disaster, the effort is largely humanitarian, including identifying the victims so that their remains (and necessary documentation) can be returned to their families. However, when a mass fatality results from criminal activity, the identification effort has humanitarian and investigative components. In a criminal matter, the ME may expand the goals to include identifying the perpetrators and assisting with the law enforcement investigation.
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