Kate Spradley

This chapter traces the movement of deceased migrants in South Texas through the system of identification and repatriation. Given significant differences in funding, resources, labor power, institutional support, and time, the timing and movement of bodies through the process are highly variable. In many ways, the fragmentation and differential support for volunteer forensic scientists have produced particular systems-level nodes where bodies may wait “in limbo” for years. This chapter considers constraints faced by forensic scientists and the systemic implications of those individual constraints.

When forensic anthropologists estimate the sex of Hispanic skeletal remains using nonpopulation specific metric methods, initial observations cause males to frequently misclassify as female. To help improve these methods, this research uses postcranial measurements from United States–Mexico border migrant fatalities at the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, Arizona, as well as Hispanic individuals from the Forensic Anthropology Data Bank. Using a total of 114 males and 28 females, sectioning points and discriminant functions provide classification rates as high as 89.43% for Hispanic individuals. A test sample assessed the reliability of these techniques resulting in accuracy up to 99.65%. The clavicle maximum length measurement provides the best univariate estimate of sex, while the radius provides the best multivariate estimated of sex. The results of this research highlight the need for population specific data in the creation of a biological profile, especially when working with individuals considered Hispanic.

Cranial morphology has previously been used to estimate phylogenetic relationships among populations, and as such has been an important tool in the reconstruction of ancient human dispersions across the planet. While some may argue that crania are too influenced by environmental factors to demonstrate biological relationships, many studies have shown that this is not the case. In the Americas, previous morphological studies support a scenario of people entering the Americas and subsequently dispersing into North and South America through Mesomerica. Therefore, Mexican populations are essential for studying the peopling of the Americas. Here, we compare the cranial morphology and phenotypic variation of late Holecene Mexican series to worldwide populations, with the objective of contextualizing the variation seen among these populations with the values observed in other parts of the continent. The crania from Mexico come from Michoacán, Sonora, and Tlanepantla and date to between AD ...

The state of Florida is commonly ignored as a border state when it comes to issues and challenges in migrant death investigations. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Florida held the third largest Hispanic population in the United States, with almost 19 million individuals self-identifying as Hispanic, following behind California and Texas (Ennis et al. 2011). Undocumented workers that arrive in the United States frequently migrate to Florida for labor, such as on produce farms, and many of these workers are children, traveling alone, or under circumstances that make them an at-risk group. Endangered, missing, and unidentified persons in Florida are growing problems, with significant numbers of affected persons from the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. This research explores the variation among six diverse groups that are found in Florida and throughout the United States, especially along the border. These groups include four groups considered Hispanic (Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, ...

The development of a methodology that estimates the postmortem interval (PMI) from stages of decomposition is a goal for which forensic practitioners strive. A proposed equation (Megyesi et al. 2005) that utilizes total body score (TBS) and accumulated degree days (ADD) was tested using longitudinal data collected from human remains donated to the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF) at Texas State University-San Marcos. Exact binomial tests examined the rate of the equation to successfully predict ADD. Statistically significant differences were found between ADD estimated by the equation and the observed value for decomposition stage. Differences remained significant after carnivore scavenged donations were removed from analysis. Low success rates for the equation to predict ADD from TBS and the wide standard errors demonstrate the need to re-evaluate the use of this equation and methodology for PMI estimation in different environments; rather, multivariate methods and eq...

After attending this presentation, attendees will better understand the role of the anthropologist in the identification and repatriation processes of deceased migrants found along the US-Mexico border.
      This presentation will impact the forensic science community by highlighting how the role of an anthropologist varies in identification and repatriation processes depending on local and state laws and may extend well beyond skeletal analysis.
Often law enforcement may be responsible for identification efforts while an anthropologist provides a report to a medical examiner, law enforcement agency, coroner, or Justice of the Peace (JP). In other circumstances, however, responsibility for identification may fall to the anthropologist. Depending on jurisdiction, these responsibilities vary with the anthropologist taking on new roles.
These varied roles will be examined through a survey of three partner organizations of the Forensic Border Coalition (FBC): the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME), and the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS). A generalized description of identification and repatriation processes is given for migrant deaths in Arizona, while case studies will be discussed to illustrate the complexities of these processes in Texas.
      The EAAF investigates migrant deaths along both sides of the US-Mexico border. Regarding cases of unidentified remains recovered in the US, EAAF facilitates the collection of family reference sample DNA for comparison to DNA samples from remains likely to correspond to migrants. When DNA analysis suggests an identification, the EAAF works with Forensic Data Banks on Missing Migrants or other mechanisms within the migrant’s country of origin to compare all antemortem and postmortem records to confirm an identification. The EAAF writes an identification report and works with the appropriate local US officials to legally recognize the identification. In recent years EAAF has helped identify 65 migrants who perished within the US. Repatriation is then handled by a Consulate’s office, overseen by the Foreign Affairs Ministry from the decedent's home county.
      In Arizona, forensic anthropological investigations of presumed migrants takes place at the PCOME. Between 2001 and 2013, the PCOME received the remains of 2,203 presumed migrants, and successfully identified 1,463. For cases requiring skeletal analysis, anthropologists at the PCOME construct both a biological and cultural profile. Once an identification hypothesis is made, the anthropologist compares all antemortem and postmortem data, writes an identification report, and briefs the Medical Examiner who legally signs off on an identification. If the decedent is to be returned to their country of origin, the local Consulate’s office manages the repatriation of the remains, a process that can take weeks to months.
      Since 2013, Operation Identification (OpID), housed within FACTS, has received the remains of 87 presumed migrants, many through exhumation efforts carried out by Baylor University and University of Indianapolis. DNA analysis, along with anthropological analyses of the skeletal remains and personal effects, are the primary sources for identification hypotheses.  Once a DNA association is reported, anthropologists associated with OpID compare all antemortem and postmortem data, write an identification report, and brief the appropriate JP who legally approves the identification. Since 2014, OpID has helped facilitate nine identifications, however only five of those individuals have been successfully repatriated. The repatriation process for counties without a medical examiner requires the coordinated efforts of Consulate offices, the funeral home handling the repatriation, the funeral home that originally filed the death certificate, and the JP, which can all vary by case. Unlike the Arizona model where these efforts are centralized, in Texas these parties can be vastly separated by geography, culture, and available resources, which can result in a breakdown of communication and stagnation of the repatriation process. In the most egregious example, an individual identified by OpID in August 2014 has still not been repatriated as of July 2016.
This unfortunate reality has led to anthropologists in Texas adopting new roles as de facto case managers and stewards of identification and repatriation processes. Anthropologists associated with OpID, with help from other FBC partners, are now facilitating/mediating communication between funeral homes, law enforcement, JPs, Medical Examiners, and the decedent’s family members. It is believed these expanded roles of the anthropologist will help streamline and hasten the repatriation of remains.