Researchers re-identify Titanic child

Yahoo News ^ | august 6 2007 | DancesWithCats

[DancesWithCats]

Wed Aug 1, 7:54 PM

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canadian researchers on Wednesday said they positively identified the remains of a young child who died when the RMS Titanic sank in 1912. (Advertisement)

The remains belong to a 19-month-old English boy named Sidney Leslie Goodwin who died with his family as they were setting out for a new life in Niagara Falls, New York, researchers said.

Goodwin's body was found floating in the waters of the North Atlantic six days after the luxury liner sank on April 15,9 1912, killing 1,503 passengers and crew.

Many of the Titanic victims are buried in a cemetery in Halifax, on Canada's eastern coast.

In 2002 researchers mistakenly identified the baby as 13-month-old Eino Viljami Panula, who they said was traveling in third class to the United States with his mother and four brothers when they all perished.

His DNA matched to living family members in Finland who traveled to his grave dedicated to "the unknown child" in Halifax for an elaborate ceremony.

"There was a lot of confusion because we thought we had it right, but more information came to light and we did more research," said Ryan Parr, lead researcher in the case at Lakehead University in Ontario.

"Now it looks like it is the Goodwin child."Based on the size of the child's teeth, scientists had been able to narrow the possible candidates to children about one year old, or younger.

"Based on the (original) DNA testing, it had to be either the Goodwin child or the Panula child and so we said, 'Okay it must be the (younger) Panula child,'" Parr said.

Later, a pair of shoes showed up that had been found on the child's body, causing the scientists to doubt their original conclusions.

[twigs]

Actually, I’ve found that family lore is VERY helpful. There is often a lot of unfactual information there, but usually a grain of truth. And it’s an excellent place to begin research.

[Jessarah]

Family lore is a good starting point, but it's sometimes hard to find that grain of truth. That's why documentation is so important. However, that can be hard to come by!

DancesWithCats, is it possible your mom was adopted?