Fingerprint Biometrics Help ID Corpse

Coroner identifies body found on Beverly Shores beach (The News Dispatch)

Harris said Hurse was identified by a fingerprint, using the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, the largest biometric database in the world, which contains both criminal and civil print files.

According to the coroner, Hurse had a surgically-implanted rod in his right femur and authorities also were attempting to identify him through identifying factors contained in the rod. “But the fingerprint identification came through first,” Harris said.“We have no idea how he ended up in Lake Michigan,” the coroner added.

There are a whole lot of cases like this out there and biometrics can sometimes help. They can also be helpful in cases where living people can't identify themselves due to injury or cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer's disease.