Application of AmpFlSTR ProfilerTM PCR Amplification kit for personal identification of a putrefied cadaver

A putrefied cadaver of q middle-aged woman was found drifting in the “Kii” water course. Autopsy findings indicated that the postmortem duration was about one week, and the cause of death was assumed to be drowning. In this case, a nail was collected as a sample for personal identification. After five months of police investigation, persons thought to be her family, husband and child, were found. A combination of D1S80 and the short tandem repeat (STR) typing system using an AmpFlSTR ProfilerTM PCR Amplification kit was performed for identification. Nine STRs (D3S1358, vWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820) and Amelogenin were analyzed by this kit. Those DNA typings successfully confirmed the family relation for personal identification of the cadaver. This analysis system may be useful for identification of a decomposed cadaver.