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1. How are the bodies cared for at the morgue? |
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2. How can the Find Family National Call Center help you find your relative? |
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3. What do I need to do if I am searching for a missing family member? |
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4. What does DMORT do to assist the State Medical Examiner? |
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5. What happens when I come to the Family Assistance Center? |
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6. What happens when your loved one is found? |
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7. What if I want information on a person who is no longer missing? |
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8. What is DMORTs role in the identification process? |
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9. What is minimum amount of information required? |
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10. What is the process for releasing a victim once they have been identified? |
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11. What kind of information will I be asked to provide? |
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12. What should be done if there is a suspicion that someone has perished within a dwelling? |
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13. Who determines the cause of death? |
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14. Who is responsible for the identification of human remains? |
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15. Who is responsible for the recovery of human remains? |
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16. Who is responsible for the release of human remains? |
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17. Who should call the Find Family National Call Center? |
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| Missing/Deceased |
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| How are the bodies cared for at the morgue? | Back to Top |
Until the bodies are identified, they are stored in individual compartments in a refrigerated environment and treated with the utmost respect and compassion. In keeping with the tradition established during 9-11 in New York City, all human remains are blessed by clergy as they enter the facility. |
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| How can the Find Family National Call Center help you find your relative? | Back to Top |
Callers to the FFNCC are asked to provide any available information about their loved ones, including a physical description, doctors’ and dentists’ names, a medical history, dental work, joint replacements and unique characteristics such as tattoos, scars or birthmarks. Dental records can be especially valuable in identifying the deceased. If or when dental records are needed, family members may be asked for assistance in identifying the dentist of their loved one. Health professionals, staff and volunteers at the call center are trained to provide sensitive, confidential assistance. With this information, the Call Center can:
- Coordinate with other organizations. The Center works with other organizations, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Salvation Army, Louisiana Nursing Home Association and others to find missing persons.
- Search databases. The Center has access to sophisticated software capable of performing complex matching of data through several databases to help locate and identify missing individuals and to reunite them with family.
- Gather forensic information. The Center works closely with the Victim Identification Center at Carville to identify the remains of those who died during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita but have not been identified. Remains may be identified using fingerprints, x-rays and dental records. DNA analysis may also be used when all other means are exhausted.
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| What do I need to do if I am searching for a missing family member? | Back to Top |
If you are searching for a family member, you have the following options available:
- Come visit the Family Assistance Center
- Call us at 1-866-326-9393
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| What does DMORT do to assist the State Medical Examiner? | Back to Top |
The basic primary mission of DMORT is to cross-reference all of the ante-mortem (pre death) and post-mortem (after death) data in an effort to establish as much identifying information as possible on the victims. Ante-mortem data is that which is collected by friends and family members about thier loved one. Post-mortem data is that which is collected by morgue staff.
All of the identifying information assembled by DMORT is then made available to the State Medical Examiner, who establishes the standards for what constitutes “positive ID” sufficient to authorize release of the bodies to families.
To date, DMORT has performed forensic examinations on more than 900 bodies of hurricane victims. At the peak, as many as 97 storm victims were examined in one day. There is no backlog in the DMORT operation. |
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| What happens when I come to the Family Assistance Center? | Back to Top |
When you come to the family assistance center you will be required to fill out a form with information on your loved one. You will also be asked to give a DNA sample. This sample will be checked against our unidentified deceased.
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When a living family member is found, the Call Center works to reunite them with family. When a deceased relative is located, the Center helps family members coordinate funeral arrangements once the local coroner has released the body. |
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| What if I want information on a person who is no longer missing? | Back to Top |
If a person is alive, due to privacy concerns, we can not give you information on that person without their permission. We will need to contact the person and get their permission first.
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| What is DMORTs role in the identification process? | Back to Top |
In the case of Hurricane Katrina, per the state’s request for federal assistance, Dr. Cataldie is supported by DMORT in two ways: (1) DMORT sets up and operates the Disaster Portable Morgue Unit (DPMU) in Carville and (2) coordinates the Find Family National Call Center (1-866-326-9393).
The purpose of the DPMU is to provide the facilities to perform extensive forensic examinations of the bodies of the victims. This unit also gathers as much post-mortem (after death) identifying information as possible through processes that include assessment, pathology, anthropology, fingerprints, DNA, full-body x-ray, dental x-rays and collection/documentation of personal effects. DMORT also provides the state with cold storage of human remains until release to families or eventual interment under a state burial plan.
The function of the Call Center is to gather detailed ante-mortem (pre death) information about victims from family members. Information such as age, medical history and identifying marks such as scars, tattoos, surgical implants, dental work or other information is gathered about the victims to assist in the process of identification. |
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| What is minimum amount of information required? | Back to Top |
On the Missing Person:
- Full name
- Age or Date of Birth
- Pre-storm address or phone number
On Yourself:
- Full name
- Current Phone number
- Current Address
- Relationship to the Victim
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| What is the process for releasing a victim once they have been identified? | Back to Top |
A victim will not be released unless their identity has been confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt. It is up to the Parish Coroner, who signs the death certificate, to authorize the release of human remains. The deceased will be released to the funeral home of the next of kin’s choice. |
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| What kind of information will I be asked to provide? | Back to Top |
Callers to the Center will be asked to provide any available information about their missing loved ones, including:
- A physical description
- Doctors’ and dentists’ names
- A medical history, including any dental work or joint replacements
- Unique characteristics like tattoos, scars and birthmarks
- Family members may be asked to release dental records, as they are particularly useful in identifying the deceased. All information gathered by the Center is held in the strictest confidence and used only for the purpose of identifying and reuniting family members.
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| What should be done if there is a suspicion that someone has perished within a dwelling? | Back to Top |
If it is believed that has died within a building and is still there, they should call 911. Proper authorities will be dispatched to the location and will search the building. If any human remains are found, the parish coroner will be called to recover the victim. |
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Determining cause and manner of death is the legal responsibility of the local parish coroner, who ultimately signs the death certificate. The information gathered by DMORT focuses on identification of individuals, not the cause of death. |
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| Who is responsible for the identification of human remains? | Back to Top |
Identification of human remains is the legal responsibility of the State Medical Examiner Dr. Louis Cataldie per Governor’s Executive Order KBB-39, issued Sept. 19, 2005. |
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| Who is responsible for the recovery of human remains? | Back to Top |
Under normal circumstances, parish coroners are responsible for the recovery of all human remains. Initially after Hurricane Katrina, a number of federal agencies took the responsibility for recovering the human remains of those who perished in the storm. Approximately two weeks after the hurricane, the Department of Health and Hospitals assumed the responsibility for recovery efforts and signed a contract with Kenyon International Emergency Services. Upon the end of the official recovery efforts, responsibility for recovery reverted back to the individual parish coroners. |
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| Who is responsible for the release of human remains? | Back to Top |
Bodies are not released until a definite identification has been made. The local parish coroner is responsible for the release of all human remains.
FEMA and DMORT have absolutely no role in determining when a body is released to the family, but they do assist in the process. |
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| Who should call the Find Family National Call Center? | Back to Top |
Anyone who has not located a family member who may have been displaced by the hurricanes can call for help at 1-866-326-9393, from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm Central Standard Time, seven days a week. |
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