Positive Identification of Human Remains by Skull- Photo Comparison in Uruguay: a Review

The article presents a review by a quantitative analysis of the forensic anthropology cases that occurred in Uruguay from 1950 to 2013. Forensic anthropology cases have rapidly increased in Uruguay over the years, from only one case in 1950 to 91 cases in 2013. Before 1992, when human remains were found, they were analyzed by the local medical examiner with lacked experience in these types of cases and in anthropological techniques. Therefore, in the majority of cases, human remains were not identified. By the need to solve these cases in 1992, the Forensic Anthropology Laboratory at the Morgue Judicial of Montevideo was created. This article studied a total of 1391 forensic anthropology cases that were undertaken at the Judicial Morgue of Montevideo between 1950 and 2013. The study is divided into two parts: the first part represents 225 cases occurring from 1950 to 1991, and the second one represents 1166 cases occurring from 1992 to 2013. In each case the remains were analyzed to determine the deceased person sex, stature and age at the time of death. Whether a positive identification was made as a result of forensic anthropology investigation was also analyzed. The purpose of this paper is to describe the place of forensic anthropology in the Uruguayan medico-legal system and to show how skullphotograph comparison techniques were successfully used to identify human remains in Uruguay.