We've got a murder victim whose body is unidentifiable. No prints left on the body but the ME was able to get a DNA sample. The vic had been to the pen and the DNA from the body matched a CODIS sample. It is who we believed the victim to be but we are now in the position of proving up the match. Any ideas along these lines? I'm thinking that trying to find the person who originally took the pen sample well over 10 years ago is going to be iffy. Do you think that a business records affidavit or going with the government record route would work? Thanks.

If you have the parents of vicim, you could prove identity through their DNA. If you have father or male child of vicim, the YSTR dna should be the same for all 3 males.

If victim had ever had tissue removed surgically, that is often preserved (why, I don't know), and that might be capable of a prove up.

Is the victim's identity even a necessary item of proof? If you can't prove he is Joe Blow, allege he is a John Doe.

The only member of the victim's family that we can find is a sister in California. That's a good avenue re the tissue sample but we don't know of any surgeries. We might just reindict and go with John Doe... Thanks for the input!