mysteriew
A diamond in process
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Close to 3,000 bodies a year come into the Medical Examiner's Office on University Avenue in West Philadelphia. The office sits on the edge of the huge health-care complex that includes the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital.
For each body, the M.E.'s office is supposed to identify the deceased and establish the cause of death.
More than 90 percent of the time, it's routine. The bodies come in during the day, are examined first thing the next morning by doctors, and identified by relatives. The bodies are sent to funeral homes within 48 hours, for burial or cremation.
But perhaps 300 times a year, a body arrives and nobody steps forward immediately to identify it.
The numbers fluctuate, but on any given day, Quain's unit may be struggling with 10 to 20 corpses for which it has no names.
Currently, the number is 12 - unidentified remains from 12 bodies discovered in Philadelphia over the past four years.
The list includes eight men and four women. They're equally divided, roughly, between whites and minorities, though it's sometimes difficult to tell.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/13330064.htm
The article gives descriptions of the 12 unidentifed remains they currently have.
For each body, the M.E.'s office is supposed to identify the deceased and establish the cause of death.
More than 90 percent of the time, it's routine. The bodies come in during the day, are examined first thing the next morning by doctors, and identified by relatives. The bodies are sent to funeral homes within 48 hours, for burial or cremation.
But perhaps 300 times a year, a body arrives and nobody steps forward immediately to identify it.
The numbers fluctuate, but on any given day, Quain's unit may be struggling with 10 to 20 corpses for which it has no names.
Currently, the number is 12 - unidentified remains from 12 bodies discovered in Philadelphia over the past four years.
The list includes eight men and four women. They're equally divided, roughly, between whites and minorities, though it's sometimes difficult to tell.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/13330064.htm
The article gives descriptions of the 12 unidentifed remains they currently have.
