Section 5 Deceased persons; fingerprints and identifying data; dental examinations; comparisons to missing persons files - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 5. Every county medical examiner shall furnish the department of the state police promptly with copies of fingerprints on standardized eight inch fingerprint cards, personal descriptions and other identifying data, including date and place of death, of all deceased persons whose deaths are in a classification requiring inquiry by the medical examiner where the deceased is not identified or the medical examiner is not satisfied with the decedent’s identification. In any case where it is not physically possible to furnish prints of the ten fingers of the deceased, prints or partial prints of any fingers with other identifying data shall be forwarded by the county medical examiner to the department of the state police.

In addition to the foregoing provisions of this section, the county medical examiner shall cause a dentist to carry out a dental examination of the deceased. The medical examiner shall forward the dental records to the department on a form supplied by the department of the state police for such purpose.

The department of the state police shall compare the fingerprints received from the county medical examiners to fingerprints on file with the department of the state police for purposes of attempting to determine the identity of the deceased. Other descriptive data supplied with the fingerprints shall also be compared to records maintained by the department concerning missing persons. The department of the state police shall submit the results of the comparisons to the appropriate medical examiner and if a tentative or positive identification is made, to the law enforcement authority which submitted the report of the missing person.