New Body Identification Law Possible

A new bill in the Indiana legislature stands to change the way bodies are identified in the state. It all stems from an accident last summer where two girls from taylor university were misidentified after a deadly bus accident. Will the new law help avoid this type of situation? Under this new law coroners are required to identify bodies by one of four ways - DNA, fingerprints, dental records or a family confirmation. Vanderburgh County already uses all those techniques. Coroner Don Erk says the new law may not put an end to the problem. Every time Erk walks through the door to do an autopsy he never knows what he may find. Thats why he makes sure his office takes every step to make sure they figure out who the person is and what happened to them. It may sound simple because thats their job - but its not done like that everywhere. "Its an ongoing problem in the smaller counties. They dont do this" Last summer, the body of a Taylor university student who died in a bus accident was mistaken for another student who survived that same accident. Now lawmakers want to retrain every coroner in the state and require either DNA, finger prints, dental records or a familys confirmation that they have the right person. Theyre techniques Don Erk has used for decades. Erk says theyre needed, but they dont always answer all the questions. For example after the November Sixth tornado Erk says he brought the families of all 25 victims to the morgue to identify bodies - something he never does. Even then at least five families couldnt positively say it was their loved one. But Erk says thats even more reason to follow any process that helps a coroner figure it out. Erk says another big problem with this law is the coroners office has to pay for the training. And for smaller offices, they dont have the manpower to send people to Indianapolis where the trainings happen. The law heads to the Senate next. If passed, it only needs Governor Daniels signature for approval.