**2. Materials and methods**

Between 1st of January 2019 and 1st of January 2021, the police brought six different cases of human bones remains to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Timisoara, Romania, for the purpose of DNA identification.

**Case 1.** The corpse of a male was found in an advanced putrefaction stage. A bone fragment was obtained from the left femur during the autopsy procedure at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Timisoara, Romania, for further genetic identification. In this case, police provided the saliva reference sample of the suspected presumptive son of the deceased victim, to confirm the identity of the victim, based on the DNA profile (**Figure 1**).

**Case 2.** A woman had been reported missing a few months ago. Police got an information that a shopping cart had been spotted in the woods, with clothes and human remains. Police obtained the hair and skull of the victim from the crime

**Figure 1.** *Left femur bone fragment after cleaning.*

scene and sent them to our laboratory for DNA identification. They also found one of the daughters of the probable victim and sent her saliva reference samples to facilitate victim identification. In this case, we used a fragment of the petrous pyramid from the victim's skull to perform DNA identification (**Figure 2**).

**Case 3.** A man committed suicide by self-immolation. As the body was in a highly destructed state, the police decided to confirm the identity of the victim through DNA identification, by comparing his DNA with that of his presumptive daughter. To this case, we obtained a canine tooth from the deceased, during the autopsy procedure (**Figure 3**).
