# identifying a dead American abroad **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552 "2015-03-08T20:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/1 "2015-03-08T20:52:50Z")
It would be pretty easy to identify my remains here. My fingerprints are on file all over the place (military, numerous law enforcement positions, state professional licenses, etc.). But what if I flew to Paris, destroyed my papers, and jumped off a bridge to my death, leaving no indication of my identity or nationality. Would their authorities be able to find out who I was and ID me? How much access to our records does law enforcement in other nations have? Or would I just be buried in a grave like The Jackal and my next of kin would have no idea whatever happened to me. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/2 "2015-03-08T22:14:15Z")
Assuming you jumped off of the bridge clothed, the clothes and clothes labels might indicate you are an American. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/3 "2015-03-08T22:31:21Z")
Most countries nowadays fingerprint you and take your picture on entry and departure to their country. Pretty sure France is one of them. Not sure if that database is tied to the main databases, but I would assume so. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/4 "2015-03-08T22:38:01Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Most countries nowadays fingerprint you and take your picture on entry and departure to their country. Pretty sure France is one of them. Not sure if that database is tied to the main databases, but I would assume so. I just went to the UK, France and the Czech Republic. No fingerprinting was involved. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/5 "2015-03-08T22:38:42Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Most countries nowadays fingerprint you and take your picture on entry and departure to their country. Pretty sure France is one of them. Not sure if that database is tied to the main databases, but I would assume so. Really? I have been to about 90 countries and the only ones I can remember fingerprinting me were Japan and China. Iran says they do, but only if you arrive at Tehran airport whereas I have only arrived overland and at Mashhad airport. I had to provide all 10 fingerprints for my UAE residency visa, but normal tourists do not. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/6 "2015-03-08T23:31:44Z")
I just came back from Japan, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Two out of three countries fingerprinted and took pictures, plus the U.S. upon reentry. Italy last year, couldn’t remember their policy, or the other countries before that, but I know I’ve done it before. Google isn’t giving me solid answers right now. I made the assumption with improving technology and increasing terrorism fearmongering, it was becoming the standard, because of my recent experiences. Hell, if developing country Cambodia is doing it, everyone must be. It appears less than twenty countries are using the technology at present, although I would assume it is increasing. An instance of “my reality is everyone’s reality” Mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/7 "2015-03-08T23:34:53Z")
Not sure how it could be achieved. I can’t see a country sending the fingerprints of every unidentified body to every single country in the world for a search in their own databases, especially since it’s likely that the person, assuming he’s a foreigner (which is unlikely to begin with), has probably never been fingerprinted in his own country. That would require a lot of work (every country receiving the fingerprints of every single unindentified body in the world for searches) with extremely rare results. You’ll probably end up in the potter’s field, unless someone knows you went missing in France. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/8 "2015-03-09T01:05:13Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Not sure how it could be achieved. I can’t see a country sending the fingerprints of every unidentified body to every single country in the world for a search in their own databases, especially since it’s likely that the person, assuming he’s a foreigner (which is unlikely to begin with), has probably never been fingerprinted in his own country. > > That would require a lot of work (every country receiving the fingerprints of every single unindentified body in the world for searches) with extremely rare results. > > You’ll probably end up in the potter’s field, unless someone knows you went missing in France. You might be surprised how many people here have been fingerprinted. I have been fingerprinted twice (both times for pre-employment screening), and have never had any contact with the criminal justice system. Huge categories of jobs (anything in banking or involving children, for example) require fingerprints for pre-employment screening. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/9 "2015-03-09T01:36:31Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > You might be surprised how many people here have been fingerprinted. I have been fingerprinted twice (both times for pre-employment screening), and have never had any contact with the criminal justice system. Huge categories of jobs (anything in banking or involving children, for example) require fingerprints for pre-employment screening. As well as 100% of the folks in the airline business who work on the secure side, even if they have to go through screening every day on the way to work. And 100% of US military and law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/10 "2015-03-09T01:59:47Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Most countries nowadays fingerprint you and take your picture on entry and departure to their country. Pretty sure France is one of them. Baloney. I’ve been to over 2 dozen countries. Very few required fingerprints, and I don’t recall any in the European union. Just in the last 3 years alone I’ve been to France, England, Spain, Italy, India, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Canada. None of them required fingerprints and India was the only one that required a visa before arriving. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/11 "2015-03-09T02:25:20Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Baloney. I’ve been to over 2 dozen countries. Very few required fingerprints, and I don’t recall any in the European union. > > Just in the last 3 years alone I’ve been to France, England, Spain, Italy, India, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Canada. None of them required fingerprints and India was the only one that required a visa before arriving. Dude, he already retracted that. You’re right; he’s wrong. Jeez. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/12 "2015-03-09T02:46:03Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > Dude, he already retracted that. You’re right; he’s wrong. Jeez. Just saying! (I hate when people say that! 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/13 "2015-03-09T03:09:24Z")
This happens in Thailand a lot. We’ve got dead farangs (Westerners) coming out the wazoo, many of them unidentified. Thailand does not fingerprint foreigners on entry, at least not yet, but they do photograph them, at least if they come in through an airport (not sure about remote land crossings). Don’t really know what happens to them, but I assume it would ultimately involve cremation. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/14 "2015-03-09T05:56:03Z")
Why do you think an unidentified American who jumps off a bridge in Paris would be treated any differently by the local police than an unidentified Frenchman? The police deal with dead bodies every day, and many of them don’t have anything in their pockets. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/15 "2015-03-09T13:08:55Z")
In the UK, they do put a good deal of effort into identifying bodies. The National Crime Agency UK Missing Persons Bureau has a website to deal with any enquiries. It seems that DNA samples are always taken and stored and, if someone believes they may be related to a missing person, their DNA can be tested and compared. Once the police have finished, it is up to the local authority to cremate any remains. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/16 "2015-03-09T13:40:34Z")
Interpol does maintain an international database of missing persons. If somebody in the US reported you missing, your description might eventually show up there, and the French police could find it. Then it would be a matter of the French requesting any fingerprints/dental records/DNA from the American authorities to see if their dead guy matches the missing persons report. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/17 "2015-03-09T13:45:51Z")
I can’t provide an authoritative answer, but I had occasion to travel with a genuine snake-eater type of guy in areas where there was a non-zero chance of street violence or other unrest. (Obviously, I’m not talking about Western Europe here.) He was incredibly insistent that I always have some kind of ID on me – even if not a passport, then my drivers license or a copy of it. I don’t recall his exact words, but the sentiment is etched into my brain. The general idea was that authorities in some countries just don’t try that hard, so if you’re going to be killed, at least do your family a favor and make it easier for the police to do their job. It was certainly more colorful the way he put it, however, involving some kind of comment about me possibly being just another dead guy in the street, and people may care more about a dead American in the street. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/18 "2015-03-09T14:15:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As well as 100% of the folks in the airline business who work on the secure side, even if they have to go through screening every day on the way to work. > > And 100% of US military and law enforcement. As are lawyers in many American states, including Ohio (as I know from personal experience). This was a plot point in Scott Turow’s _Presumed Innocent_. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/19 "2015-03-09T14:23:19Z")
Some of us, repeatedly. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552/20 "2015-03-09T14:33:06Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Why do you think an unidentified American who jumps off a bridge in Paris would be treated any differently by the local police than an unidentified Frenchman? > > The police deal with dead bodies every day, and many of them don’t have anything in their pockets. The point being _not_ that Americans are somehow special, but that international record checking is fundamentally different from domestic. So after the local French authorities search the French national domestic databases and come up with nothing, what then? And what if nobody in the US knew the victim had traveled to France? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identifying-a-dead-american-abroad/714552.md?page=2)