Expanding Humanitarian Forensic Action: An Approach to U.S. Cold Cases

Abstract

Unidentified persons in the United States represent the most vulnerable populations among us, yet individuals from these groups are also among the least likely to be reported missing and receive investigative resources. Even when positive identification is unlikely, these cases are still deserving of a full investigation because they represent the most vulnerable among us, and their unidentified state embodies the structural inequalities and violence they likely endured in life. As frequent witnesses to the inequality in death and identification, forensic anthropologists have an obligation to document the structural violence affecting vulnerable populations in the United States and become advocates for these communities.