Identifying The Nameless: Advancing The Science Of Human Decomposition To Identify Deceased Migrants

*The idea is to return the bodies of the migrants who die crossing the desert to their families. But first the U.S. authorities must identify the migrant. It’s a long process. VL

By Lorne Matalon, Fronteras

SAN MARCOS, Texas — Brooks County, Texas, — 70 miles northof the United States-Mexico border — has seen at least 365 migrant deaths since 2011.

Forensic anthropologists in Texas and Arizona are working to identify these migrants and repatriate their remains.

Behind an electronic gate accessed by a key card on a bucolic farm in central Texas, 100 cadavers donated for research by U.S. citizens lie on the ground in different stages of decomposition.

Forensic anthroplogist Kate Spradley heads a relatively new project called Operation ID at Texas State University’s ForensicAnthropology Center.

“When someone dies on U.S. soil, it is our responsibility to identify that person,” she said while walking in the shade where cadavers lay on the ground, protected by metal screens.

Click HERE to read the full story.