ChoicePoint® to Identify Victims of Flight 587 Disaster
The Bode Technology Group Will Perform DNA Analysis on Remains

ALPHARETTA, GA. Dec. 12 2001 – The Bode Technology Group Inc., a ChoicePoint (NYSE: CPS) company, is working with the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) to determine the identities of the victims of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed into a New York neighborhood last month.

"We expect that the remains sent to the Bode Technology Group will give us more complete results than the samples we have analyzed here at the New York City Medical Examiner's office" said Dr. Robert Shaler, Laboratory Director OCME.

The Bode Technology Group has provided the New York City OCME with DNA results from greater than 3,500 bone samples recovered from the World Trade Center, and is in the process of completing the analysis of approximately 1,000 additional samples. This is the largest, most comprehensive and rapid DNA analysis of skeletal material ever performed in a mass fatality incident. Consequently, Bode is uniquely capable of providing the additional work required to assist with the skeletal remains recovered from AA Flight 587.

DNA analysis is being performed at The Bode Technology Group’s state-of-the-art laboratories in Springfield, Va. The results from the DNA analysis, will be used by the OCME in New York City to identify the victims and help bring closure to the their families. Following successful DNA analysis and identification, the remains will be returned to the families.

“We are honored to be able to help during this time of tragedy,” said Tom Bode, general manager of The Bode Technology Group. “It is our sincerest hope that the identification of the crash victims will begin the healing process for their loved ones.”

DNA will be isolated from each sample and compared to DNA from a known reference sample. Nuclear DNA in the form of Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) will be compared on most samples, and mitochondrial DNA from the outside of the cell’s nucleus will be compared on samples in the worst condition.

“STRs are commonly used in criminal cases and are being used to identify approximately 50 percent of the samples from the World Trade Center,” said Dr. Kevin McElfresh, senior vice president of operations for The Bode Technology Group. “Samples that do not yield STR DNA will be subjected to mitochondrial DNA testing.”