Using HLA and Mitochondrial DNA Polymorphisms to Identify Geographic/Ethnic Origins: The Mammoth Lakes Case
By: Henry Erlich, Ph.D. and Cassandra D. Calloway, MS, Issue: June/July, 2007
The phone in the office rang. The caller, Sergeant Paul Dostie of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department, asked if we could help identify the geographic/ethnic origins of a buried murder victim that had been recently discovered in a shallow grave in the Shady Rest campground in Mammoth Lakes, in the mountains of Southern California. It was estimated that the victim had been dead for six to nine months. Apparently, analysis of the skeletal remains by a forensic anthropologist had indicated an Asian female but an initial DNA analysis by DNAPrint Genomics (Sarasota, Florida) had suggested a possible Native American origin. Sergeant Dostie had found some of our publications on the population genetics of Native Americans and wondered if we would be able to help him with this case. We agreed to analyze the extensive polymorphism at the HLA loci, the genetic markers with which we had analyzed a variety of Native American populations as well as many other global populations, and to analyze the DNA samples that Sgt. Dostie would be sending us for mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms.
CONCLUSION
While the identity of the murder victim remains unknown, we can say that it is very likely, based on both the HLA and mtDNA data, that the victim was a Native American from Mexico or Central America. The search for a related reference sample from individuals in this geographic region continues. With additional data and a great deal of hard investigative work, we hope that Sgt. Dostie and his team can identify the murder victim buried in the shallow grave found near Mammoth Lakes. We were both impressed with Sgt. Dostie’s commitment, perseverance, and creativity in finding a variety of experts to help him try to identify the unknown victim buried in the Shady Rest campground grave. We wish him well in his quest and hope that, eventually, this woman will have a name and a final resting place.
Henry Erlich, Ph.D. is Vice President of Discovery Research and Director of the Human Genetics Department at Roche Molecular Systems and a Scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. His research has focused on the development and application of PCR to immunogenetics, medical diagnostics, evolution and anthropology, and forensics. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.
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