Ante-Mortem Data (AM)
Definition
Information about a person recorded before death: dental charts, medical records, photographs, physical descriptions, fingerprints, and DNA reference samples from biological relatives. The starting point for any identification comparison.
- Includes
- Dental charts, medical records, photos, fingerprints, DNA reference
- Sourced from
- Person's own records or biological relatives
- Role
- Starting point for identification comparison
- Abbreviation
- AM
Common questions
How does the reliability of different ante-mortem data types vary?+
Dental records, fingerprints and DNA reference samples give high-confidence, unique comparison points, while physical descriptions and photographs are useful for narrowing candidates but carry more room for error and subjective judgement.
Why is DNA reference collection from relatives treated as ante-mortem data rather than post-mortem?+
The relative's own DNA sample is collected while the missing person is still unidentified and the relative is living, so it functions as a comparison standard exactly like a dental chart, even though it is drawn from a family member rather than the victim directly.
Related terms
- INTERPOL DVI Forms
- Standardised yellow (AM) and pink (PM) forms developed by INTERPOL for recording ante-mortem and post-mortem data in a comparable structure. Used across...
- Likelihood Ratio (LR)
- The ratio of two conditional probabilities: the probability of the observed evidence given the prosecution's hypothesis (same source), divided by the probability...
- Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)
- The smallest number of distinct individuals required to account for all skeletal elements present in an assemblage. Determined by identifying the element...
- Post-Mortem Data (PM)
- Information recovered from unidentified remains: dental charting of recovered dentition, fingerprints from preserved skin, skeletal measurements, pathological findings, DNA profile from bone...
- STR Profiling
- Short tandem repeat profiling: the same multi-locus PCR-based method used for human identity testing, adapted for target species with species-specific primer sets....