Why do you have to formally ID

[ojread2]

.. a dead body? Why is a picture of the person given to whomever not enough?

[bednobs]

what would happen if the pictures got mixed up?

[madmaggot]

Don't know about the legal aspect but identifying the body can help with the grieving process, you can 'accept' the fact that the person has died when you actually see them with no life, ie looking dead.
I know this because the last time I saw my son he was on life support, I was 'spared' the ordeal of IDing him; this was a mistake because I could'nt come to terms with his death.

[ummmm]

madmoggot - You don't know that. The chances are you wouldn't have been able to come to terms with his death either way. And understandably so xx

[madmaggot]

Many close members of my family have died and I saw each of them at the funeral director's chapel of rest, my son is the only one that I didn't see after his death.

[ummmm]

Do you really think it would have helped? I've avoided going to the chapel of rest on a few occasions. I know it helped seeing my Dad but he looked better after a long illness. Seeing my Uncle upset me more...

[mike11111]

You don't have to formally ID a dead body, except in cases involving the police, for obvious reasons.

[ummmm]

Yeah...thinking about it Mike...I was down as my Uncles next of kin and wasn't asked to identify his body.

[ojread2]

well I suppose pictures can get mixed up, but what if the person wasn't very nice to look at as in injured in some way? I would hate for that to be my last thought on someone who I loved

As for helping the grieving process, madmaggot I can see how it may have been helpful to you but certainly for me, it did not help to see my dead FIL laying on his bed, in fact that is my lasting memory of him and it is awful! Didn't help me whatsoever so we are all different and what helped you would not help me in anyway

What are the reasons though mike11111? OK, just in case it's not the person they think it is why not take DNA instead to save the awful experience?

[hc4361]

dna won't prove anything without a match.

Assume the person is killed in an accident, no criminal record, no dna on file.
No family can be traced.

[mike11111]

The practice of identifying a body obviously predates the advent of DNA. Don't forget that DNA sampling would involve taking a sample from a living relative, which could be as equally distressing, if not more so, than identifying a corpse which, unless the circumstances of death were so horrific, is likely to have been cosmetically treated to lessen the impact on the one who has to identify it.

[ojread2]

well thanks everybody for your replies, interesting stuff

[joko]

as someone who has an extremely photographic memory and an eye for detail - beiong an artist, i would hate to see any loved one dead as i know it would end up being the principal image i had whenever i thought of them...

i have a friend who was seen by a friend and she decribed him.
he only had a slightly blackening lip but now i always imagine him lying there like that and i didnt even see him...and its in great detail....

[radiogaga]

oooh it is not an easy task.
i avoided going to see my recently deceased cousin. as id prefer to remember her alive i guess. some folks are different with old traditions of bringing the body home and then leaving the coffin open etc. i draw the line at photographing the dead.