Excerpted
Identification likely to come from DNA
By JEFF JARDINE
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: April 15, 2003, 04:22:41 AM PDT
Investigators are likely to rely on DNA samples to determine whether the remains found on the shoreline north of Berkeley are those of missing Modesto woman Laci Peterson and her baby.
"If there are no fingerprints or dental (evidence), then you have to go with the DNA," said Rex Cline, a coroner's deputy for Stanislaus County, speaking in generic terms and not specifically about the Peterson case.
Which means that the time it takes to make a positive identification falls into the hands of the person peering into a microscope, another area deputy coroner said.
"It just depends on the lab and the priority they give it," said Al Ortiz, a San Joaquin County sheriff's deputy.
The adult body washed up along Point Isabel on Monday. The discovery came just a day after a person walking a dog found the body of a baby boy about a mile away.
Forensic pathologists frequently are summoned to the scene when a body is discovered. Forensic pathologists are licensed physicians who ultimately determine cause of death.