Part 2: The MMIWG2S Crisis and UNM

The MMIWG2S Crisis and UNM

The Maxwell Museum Laboratory of Human Osteology

The Laboratory of Human Osteology serves as the biological anthropology “arm” of the Museum’s collections. The Laboratory maintains a venerated and growing Documented Skeletal Collection of generous body donors; an extensive orthodontic collection of dental casts, radiographs, and photos; and prehistoric and historic ancestral remains primarily received from UNM field schools and other academic investigations that are awaiting repatriation.

Additionally, since the 1970s, the Laboratory of Human Osteology has served as the repository for all unidentified forensic cases from the State of New Mexico. It is the Laboratory’s responsibility to care for these individuals, ethically and professionally, until they can be positively identified and returned home.

In collaboration with the Office of the Medical Investigator, the Laboratory of Human Osteology works closely with the MUHR Grant Team to ensure that the cases it holds in trust are being thoroughly and appropriately investigated. Under Collection Manager Ashley Burch, lab staff and students adhere to professional collection care and maintenance standards, support logistical needs, develop standard case procedures, and provide training as needed. 

The Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) Program

The Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) program, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), provides grants to institutions trying to improve their efforts to identify missing persons and unidentified human remains found within their jurisdiction.

Here in New Mexico, the Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI), a special program within the UNM Department of Pathology, has jurisdiction over all unidentified remains in the state. OMI also works with local indigenous communities to identify remains recovered from Tribal land. Cases may not be easily identifiable for many reasons, such as limited forensic information, a lack of trained personnel, insufficient testing methods, limited resources, among others.

MUHR grants in 2022 and 2024 to Dr. Heather Edgar,  Forensic Anthropologist in the OMI and UNM Professor of Anthropology, are allowing the OMI to dedicate personnel, time, and resources to identifying these individuals. Dr. Cortney Hulse, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology, is coordinating this work assisted by a team of several graduate and undergraduate Department of Anthropology students.

Currently, the UNM MUHR team is working to ensure that each case has been analyzed by trained professionals using appropriate and modern methods. They are actively researching each case to identify any useful information that may not have been fully explored or evaluated previously.

The progression for researching unidentified cases is:

• Analyze the remains to create a biological profile based on modern methods.
• When applicable, submit fingerprints to current missing persons and law enforcement databases.
• Update dental charts and dental information.
• Investigative case research.
• Update the NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System) case information – so anyone searching has the most accurate information possible.
• Sample remains for DNA and enter the genetic profile into the New Mexico DNA Identification System (NMDIS) and the National Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
• Perform Investigative Genetic Genealogy to identify possible name associations. 

To date, the dedicated work of the MUHR team has allowed for the positive identification of several individuals. We hope that in the not too distant future all of the unidentified individuals currently cared for in the Maxwell Museum’s Laboratory of Human Osteology will be identified and returned home.