The Titanic Disaster: Dentistry's Role in the Identification of an 'Unknown Child'

Titanic Disaster Body Recovery:

• Four Canadian vessels were involved in body recovery, with the Mackay-Bennett recovering the most bodies.

The ‘Unknown Child’:

• The ‘Unknown Child’ was a male child, approximately 2 years old, recovered by the Mackay-Bennett.
• The crew vowed to ensure the child received a proper burial if unclaimed, which they fulfilled.

Titanic Ancient DNA Project:

• Initiated in 1998 to identify Titanic victims using DNA.
• Exhumations of graves, including the ‘Unknown Child,’ were conducted in 2001.
• The Pålsson family speculated the child might be Gösta Leonard Pålsson, but DNA tests disproved this.

Role of Dentistry:

• Teeth from the ‘Unknown Child’ were analyzed to estimate age and identity.
• Teeth were identified as belonging to a child aged 9 to 15 months.
• DNA from the teeth and a bone fragment was used to match with living relatives.

Identification of the ‘Unknown Child’:

• The child was identified as either Eino Viljam Panula, a 13-month-old Finnish boy or Sidney Goodwin, a 19-month-old child from England.
• Mitochondrial DNA analysis was inconclusive as the samples matched indicating that the two boys shared a common maternal ancestor.
• Dental analysis indicated that the teeth were likely from a younger child, and the body was identified as that of Eino Panula.*

Conclusion:

• The teeth played a crucial role in solving the mystery of the ‘Unknown Child.’
• The grave in Halifax’s Fairview Lawn Cemetery now bears the name Eino Viljam Panula.

* Editors' Note

Later detailed mtDNA analysis of the remains disproved the conclusion that the Unknown Child was Eino Panula, and it was declared that the body was instead that of Sidney Goodwin.  This highlights the difficulty in forensic identification with only limited or highly degraded source material; and the need for extreme caution in drawing definitive conclusions from such research.