Body Recovery Information

[Ruggahissy]

Information regarding next of kin and the return of bodies:

Regardless of a student's survival status, every family's initial contact from Interpol's liaison officers will be on December 20th, prior to any official public announcements regarding the number of survivors. However, the families of the deceased will be told something along the lines of "[Character] was not among those rescued, and their status is unknown. We're conducting search operations, but it's important for you to be aware that, at the moment, we're treating it as a recovery operation and not rescue. Here is a liaison you can contact for updates on that process, and here are some support services etc."

[+] A general overview of the recovery, identification, and return process for bodies.

• Everything on-scene is recorded, photographed, etc. The island's a crime scene, so they'll be treating it like one.
• The bodies will be removed from the island and transported to a mortuary for examination. The examination includes fingerprinting, and work by radiographers and odontologists.
• After examination, the bodies are brought back to the mortuary to be stored until they're identified.
• Information is gathered from various sources (likely including both V8's survivors, and the families of the deceased) about the people known to be dead or missing. This can include physical descriptions and information about personal effects. These details are then matched to bodies.
• Each body/body fragment is given a certificate of identification by Interpol's folks. The coroner then goes over each identification report to confirm/reject it.
• Whenever someone is confirmed dead, and whenever any remains are positively identified, next of kin is notified.
• The personal effects and body of the deceased are then returned to their family.

Any of the deceased who haven't had their bodies found or IDed by January 7th will be confirmed dead then, as the V8 footage contains proof of their deaths. Most body recovery and identification efforts will also be sped up considerably after this point.

Details of the probable timeline of the recovery process:

Please note that these aren't hard-and-fast rules, just general guidelines for how long it'd reasonably take for bodies to be recovered depending on their circumstances. It is up to the individual discretion of handlers how strictly they wish to adhere to them.

Due to the size and terrain of the island, the amount of time it's going to take for bodies to recovered and IDed will be pretty variable. The first bodies to be retrieved will likely be those located in The Mining Town and The Mine, followed by The Research Station. The longest waits for retrieval will likely be for the folks who've fallen into hard-to-reach areas of The Mountain, and any bodies in the lake; due to the safety hazards involved, they're unlikely to be grabbed until spring or summer. Any bodies washed out to sea are unlikely to ever be recovered (though it's technically possible, if a handler wishes to mention the recovery of their character.)