We would recommend sending the femur if available. If the femur is not an option, then a molar or the next largest load-bearing bone available would be the best option. Bode Cellmark has been successful with obtaining full DNA profiles from highly-compromised bone fragments, including victims from Hurricane Katrina and the attack on the World Trade Center.

If the cremation temperature was lower than 1500 degrees Celsius, teeth may have survived and could be processed for STR or mtDNA analysis.