Thesis title: Secondary identifying features- an untapped identification tool in South Africa?
Supervisors: Kate Reid and A/Prof Laura Heathfield

There is a great burden of unidentified human remains around the world. Methods of identification used in mortuaries include visual identification, scientific methods of identification including DNA analysis anthropology and odontology, fingerprints, and secondary identifying features. Secondary identifying features are features that are used in combination with the other identification methods to help narrow down the search, especially when the body has been mutilated when it is in advanced decomposition stages, or if there have been attempts to conceal the identity of the body. INTERPOL defines sex, age, tattoos, scars, marks and clothes. Tattoos are very unique to people who get them and are recognisable by people who know them. Scars can provide medical history and are also unique to people.  The use of secondary identifying features is well evident in mass disaster identification. In routine casework, it is unclear how they are used to identify bodies at the mortuary. This study investigates how informative these features are recorded in case notes and whether they were used for the identification of the decedents. Medicolegal cases of unidentified humans at admission to Salt River Mortuary/OFPI in the year 2022. How these features are recorded and whether they are used for identification will be reported in hopes of improving the use of these features in identification.