The story of anonymous corpses in China

China’s cities are struggling to deal with a large number of anonymous corpses. But an underground database is helping uncover their true identity.
On a chilly January 1998 day, walkers along the riverbank in Luoyang city in central China discovered something creepy. A female body lay on the long grass. She is wearing a red coat, with charred flesh.

For a few days, the incident became the town’s gossip. However, police have struggled to identify the person who died from the burns that were so severe. Public interest gradually faded. The woman’s name seems to be forever unknown.

In China’s megacities, large numbers of unclaimed corpses have become a pressing problem. Although country figures are not available, the total is at least in the tens of thousands. Urban morgues, funeral homes and hospitals complain that they have been stretched to full capacity.

But Truong Dai Dung could not let the incident sink. The intelligent man who once dreamed of becoming a scientist was unable to fulfill his dream of suffering from ankylosing spondylitis, a form of weakness of the spine.

According to Truong, he could not move without much pain. Zhang had to lie in bed, “detained in a home prison”. His thoughts often returned to the mysterious corpse, wondering where the woman had come from.

Then one day, Truong discovered an advertisement in a local newspaper. Post by a man searching for his missing wife, last seen wearing a red coat. Zhang contacted the man and the Luoyang police later confirmed that the body was in fact his wife.

Truong found his god.

Truong looks for information on the internet

The 57-year-old has since spent decades identifying the unidentified corpses languishing in the city’s morgues.

From his bedroom in Luoyang, Zhang built a website called an anonymous dead database, containing records of more than 3,300 corpses.

The 57-year-old has since spent decades identifying the unidentified corpses languishing in the city’s morgues.

For several hours each week, Zhang peered into the archive of press archives, police notices and public documents to update the website, moving himself around with the help of a metal ring hanging from the ceiling. Bedroom. He runs the project entirely by himself and receives little remuneration for the work.

But Truong says the website gives meaning to his life. Although he rarely hears from users, he knows the hundreds of people who regularly check the database, flipping from page to page on the list.

“I am part of a disadvantaged group,” Truong told reporters. Finding even more disadvantaged people, that at least gives me consolation. ”

However, there are many more families that Truong is helpless to help.

In China’s megacities, large numbers of unclaimed corpses have become a pressing problem. Although country figures are not available, the total is at least in the tens of thousands. Urban morgues, funeral homes and hospitals complain that they have been stretched to full capacity.

The problem is partly the result of massive internal exodus that China has experienced in recent decades. Many of the unidentified deaths are believed to be wanderers or unregistered migrants, who flooded the cities during China’s economic boom. While some died from violence, others drowned, had an accident or died in hospital.

China’s lack of a consistent system for identifying the dead and handling anonymous corpses has exacerbated the problem. Across the country, a large number of anonymous cadavers remain unresolved, and bodies are left long ago in refrigerating equipment.

China does not have a national database equivalent to the national system of missing and unidentified Americans. According to the China Newsweek, a state-run magazine, China’s Ministry of Public Security maintains internal records of missing persons and unidentified death records, but they are not linked together and cross-checking is difficult. . These records are also not accessible to the public.

When it comes to identifying victims, even the Chinese police often feel helpless – especially those in underdeveloped areas. Although forensic technology has improved significantly in recent years, the results of an investigation ultimately depend on the records investigators have access to.

Winsome Lee, a forensic anthropologist based in Hong Kong, said: “We will do a lot of analysis and modeling, but ultimately it depends on having a relative providing clues or DNA to we match or not. Our role is really limited. ”

Tian Chen, a policeman from Xining, Qinghai Province, northwest China, recalls an unsolved case he handled last year. When a male body was found in the village, Dien’s team was assigned to identify the deceased.

Officers collected samples, conducted DNA analysis, and searched Thanh Hai province records of dead bodies and unidentified people. They also posted missing person notices on China’s WeChat social app and on local media. But these things did not yield any results.

“We can only test big data within Thanh Hai province,” Dien said.

After three months of fruitless work, the group was forced to close the file and cremate the body, as the local funeral home refused to keep it. “The funeral homes here are full of corpses,” Dien said.

These problems are not unique to Tay Ninh. In cities across China, unclaimed and unidentified bodies are filling morgue and funeral homes, while authorities are arguing over how to handle them.

Vu Tu Hai, in charge of social affairs at the Luoyang Interior Bureau, said unclaimed corpses consume about 15% of the city’s funeral home capacity. Some of the bodies were there for a decade and forgotten by the police.

Vu said: “The police only sent the body there, then no one bothered to follow it.”

The problem is partly the result of massive internal exodus that China has experienced in recent decades. Many of the unidentified deaths are believed to be wanderers or unregistered migrants, who flooded the cities during China’s economic boom. While some died from violence, others drowned, had an accident or died in hospital.