ABSTRACT
The sudden appearance of a number of dead bodies is a prominent feature of most major disasters. No plans, of course, existed in the community prior to the disaster for handling a large number of dead. The disaster in Rapid City generated a widely and socially organized response to death. This is in contrast to the normal situation where the death of an individual usually involves only a family, close friends of the deceased, a mortician, a religious actor, and peripherally some medical or health personnel. The Rapid City disaster was a localized phenomenon creating disruption and tragedy in a small city. In most cases the identification was made using the prosaic evidence available: the individual was recognizable and known by someone on the identification team, or had already been identified by friends or relatives previous to the recovery of the body, or the wallet or purse would contain identification material.
