In April 2025 the Perus Project announced a revision of a decades-old identification from the Perus mass grave. The work was led by the Center of Forensic Anthropology and Archeology (CAAF/Unifesp) together with the Special Commission on the Political Dead and Disappeared (CEMDP). At CAAF the remains underwent three types of analysis, including DNA comparison with first-degree relatives.
The case involves Dênis Casemiro, a 28-year-old mason and member of the Popular Revolutionary Vanguard who died under torture in May 1971. His remains had been identified and buried in 1991, but new tests produced a 100 percent genetic match between other bones and the Casemiro family. The bones buried in 1991 as Casemiro are now in the Perus Project archive and do not match any samples in the database.
The Perus grave held 1,092 bones and experts estimate at least 42 politically disappeared people were buried there. Genetic data were collected from 34 families and the comparison work is about 80 percent concluded, officials said. The project also identified Grenaldo de Jesus da Silva, who was 31 when he died in 1972 during a hijacking at Congonhas airport, bringing the total of officially recognised political militants among the Perus remains to six.
Difficult words
- revision — A new review or change to an earlier decision
- identification — The act of finding who someone is
- mass grave — A burial site with many bodies buried together
- forensic — Relating to scientific examination for legal cases
- comparison — Looking at two things to find similarities
- torture — Severe, intentional physical or mental pain
- archive — A place where historical records are kept
- disappear — To be taken away or become missingdisappeared
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Discussion questions
- How might a family react to a new identification after many years?
- What challenges can experts face when they test old bones?
- Why is DNA comparison with relatives important in identifying remains?
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