Foreign and deceased: Unclaimed bodies in Costa Rica

Since 2012, the cryogenic chambers of the Forensic Pathology section of the Judicial Branch in Costa Rica have served as the final resting place of 37 deceased individuals whose bodies have never been claimed. Many of the dearly departed were citizens of the United States, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Italy, Bulgaria, and ten other nations; however, a few Costa Rican citizens are also among the unclaimed.

According to an investigative report in daily tabloid Diario Extra, the accumulation of unclaimed bodies comes at a deep cost to the Judicial Branch. Many of the bodies should have already received proper burial, but financial constraints, hope and matters of religious faith often delay the process.

The Posthumous Chambers

When a physician in Costa Rica cannot determine that a death occurred under natural circumstances, agents from the Organization of Judicial are called in -even when the demise was accidental. The same goes when a criminal act or foul play is suspected, but there is one exception to this rule: If the decedent cannot be identified, he or she will be taken to the Forensic Pathology morgue at the Judicial Complex in San Joaquin de Flores, province of Heredia. This where they enter one of the two chambers where they will lie in wait.

Both cryogenic chambers are kept at three degrees Celsius (about 37 degrees Fahrenheit). The busy Chamber One houses up to 30 bodies; it is used when the dearly departed has been identified and relatives or loved ones are on their way to claim them. Chamber Two has a much higher capacity; this is where the unclaimed and unidentified lie in wait. Some have been here a few months; others have been here for a couple of years.

The Final Resting Place

Most autopsies in Costa Rica last about four hours; although some cases have required pathologists to take turns and work on a single body for 16 hours. In the past, the remains of the unidentified and unclaimed have been donated to medical schools where they are used as scientific cadavers. That has not been the case in the last three years due to internal rulemaking.

Some think that the unidentified and unclaimed should not be kept in the morgue for so long. In Costa Rica, however, a mindset of hope prevails; hope for relatives, loved ones or even Good Samaritans to eventually come forward and take the dearly departed home -or at least pay them final respects in solemnity.

By virtue of her Constitution, Costa Rica is a Catholic nation. Faith in the Paschal Mystery is strong, for in death we are reminded that God promised us eternal life; albeit one that is ephemeral here on Earth. Saint John Neumann Catholic Church of Sunbury, Ohio explains this very elegantly:

“[The] Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased. We are confident in the conviction that death is not the end nor does it break the bonds of family, friendship and community that are forged in life.

The Church through its funeral rites commends the dead to God’s merciful love and pleads for the forgiveness of their sins. The celebration of the Christian funeral brings hope and consolation to the living.”

Once the rules dictate that the unclaimed and unidentified are to be given the Paschal Mystery, a legal notice is published by Diario Extra. Although this notice can be published in any newspaper of record, it just so happens that the daily tabloid Diario Extra is known to sacrifice premium advertising space for the purpose of publishing legal notices and other items of special interest to immigrants and the poor in Costa Rica.

After the legal notice is published and embassies are notified (in the case of foreigners), forensic staff waits two weeks for someone to come forward and claim the dearly departed from Costa Rica; deceased foreigners are given two months. The Holy Burial is performed by a Catholic Chaplain along with forensic staff. The decedent are placed in a simple casket made of true pine or laurel before they are lowered into their own burial space, which is marked with what little information may be available about them. The cost to the Judicial Branch is about $2,000 per burial; this cost includes unpaid overtime and the cemetery plot.

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust: The unclaimed rest at the Calvo Cemetery in the appropriately-named Sacred Heart of Jesus neighborhood, in the lovable city of San Jose. Should loved ones come forward after the burial, they will have a very nice place to visit and pay respects to their dearly departed.

Saturday 22 March 2014

http://news.co.cr/foreign-and-deceased-unclaimed-bodies-in-costa-rica/33991/