July 2025 will be memorialized as a tragic moment in the state\u2019s history. Flooding in Central Texas took the lives of 135 people, including 37 children.<\/p>\n
But while survivors and many others following the story remained frozen in shock and despair waiting for a semblance of good news, about 27 scientists at UNT Health Fort Worth worked around the clock testing forensic samples brought by Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n
Lab workers from the school\u2019s Center for Human Identification spent two weeks helping state officials identify remains, primarily using kinship DNA testing. Ultimately, the lab identified 47 people, said Michael Coble, executive director for the center.<\/p>\n
The team worked overnight to get identifications completed and answers to families within 24 hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there\u2019s a horrific event, time is of the essence,\u201d said Krystle Rodriguez, a senior forensic analyst for the center. \u201cWhen children are affected, it just really elevates what work we do and that it needs to be done quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kinship tests compared DNA samples collected from victims to that of family members \u2014 either a parent, sibling or a child. The lab also used dental and fingerprint comparisons to help with identification.<\/p>\n
Because of the lab\u2019s status as one of the premier DNA testing facilities in Texas, Coble said the center is often tapped when a tragedy takes place. It also was involved in identifying the remains of children from the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of those tragedies, whether it was the flooding or the shooting, were very, very emotional,\u201d Coble said. Still, he noted that they \u201call understand what we have to do, and we kind of pull up our sleeves and we get to work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The majority of the lab\u2019s work is with law enforcement. The center has both an anthropology and a DNA lab, allowing for investigations and identification both through testing and sample examinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The center is one of the few in the country that specializes in mitochondrial testing, a more detailed form of DNA analysis, making the lab a critical resource in Texas for identifying missing persons and remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe accept any human remains that are found within Texas,\u201d Coble said. \u201cThat can be where anthropologists receive skeletal remains and do an investigation. It could also mean the Texas Ranger has found a bone, and they want to know, \u2018Is this human, or is it animal?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the intensity of investigations during a tragedy, the work remains mostly the same, Rodriguez said. The only difference is the need for speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s higher pressure, but you\u2019re pressuring yourself, too,\u201d she said of instances where family members are waiting for answers. \u201cYou want to get the answer back to the family so that they can have positive identifications, because that\u2019s what\u2019s holding up the remains being returned to the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The added significance and workload didn\u2019t phase the center\u2019s team members, who were already motivated, Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe willingness and the drive and the initiative that was already oozing out of our staff and our teammates was what made that all work,\u201d she said. \u201cHad our teams not been like that, I don\u2019t know that it would have worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff at the center were in constant communication with UNT Health and officials from Texas Health and Human Services about any needs.<\/p>\n
Whether it was food delivered to the team by the university or the state coordinating sample deliveries, everything was done efficiently, said Erika Ziemak, the director of special projects at the Center for Human Identification.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back on it, I feel like we did such an amazing job of teamwork, working with each other and getting the results out the door as quickly as we did, and providing those answers to families,\u201d Ziemak said.<\/p>\n
Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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