Last Friday, fetal remains were found in a wastewater treatment plant in Sumter County, South Carolina. The fetus was male, 13–15 weeks old, with no signs of trauma. At that stage, a miscarriage is considered a medical event rather than a legal death, meaning that neither a death certificate nor any formal reporting is required.
Even so, the county coroner described the fetus as “stillborn”—a term under South Carolina law reserved for fetal death after 20 weeks—and is working with South Carolina law enforcement to develop a DNA profile to determine the fetus’ race and identify the mother (but apparently not the father).
Why do the coroner and sheriff need to identify someone who had a miscarriage? Are they planning to use genetic genealogy? And why do they need to know the fetus’ race?
What Else Can Explain It?
As a scientist, I consider and rule out alternative explanations before I draw conclusions. Here are the most logical answers to my questions.
Why do the coroner and sheriff need to identify someone who had a miscarriage?
- Death certificate — Could the coroner need to identify the mother to issue a death certificate? No, because under South Carolina law, a fetal death certificate is only required for stillbirths, which are defined as 20 weeks gestation or more. This fetus was 15 weeks at most, so a death certificate is unnecessary.
- Health — While it’s heartwarming to think that the coroner is concerned for the woman’s health, the truth is that FGG is a slow process. I reached out to a few FGG labs and practitioners, and the consensus is that the DNA analysis alone averages 2 months or more.1 The genealogy phase also takes time. If and when she is identified, she will no longer need medical treatment for her miscarriage.
- Charges — The coroner is working with the county sheriff, suggesting that they hope to bring criminal charges against someone.
- Disposal — Roughly 10%–20% of known pregnancies end in natural miscarriage; the real rate is higher because many women miscarry without knowing they were pregnant.2 Flushing is a common—even recommended—way to manage the remains of a failed pregnancy. However, according to the Legal Information Institute, in South Carolina, “Products of conception must be incinerated, cremated, interred, or donated for medical research.” This woman could be prosecuted for flushing a miscarriage, even if she wasn’t aware of it or flushed because she didn’t know what else to do.
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Abortion — In South Carolina, abortion is illegal after 6 weeks gestation, so the authorities may hope to pursue legal charges for an intentional abortion. Under current law, a woman is immune for receiving an abortion, but she can be compelled to testify against medical providers and may herself be charged with child neglect or endangerment. Although there is no indication that this was anything other than a natural miscarriage, abortion is a hot-button issue in South Carolina, where lawmakers are currently trying to criminalize them for the women obtaining them.
Are they planning to use genetic genealogy?
- CODIS — The CODIS database has been the standard DNA resource for identifying people in the USA for more than 30 years. However, it can only identify people who are already in the system, which a fetus obviously would not be. Some states allow familial searches, which could conceivably match to the mother if she has a criminal record, but South Carolina is not one of those states. A CODIS search will not identify her.
- Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) — The only way to identify the mother using DNA is through FGG, in which genealogical DNA matches and research are combined to reverse engineer a family tree. Only a few databases allow FGG investigations, and they all now require informed consent from their layperson users. Did those users consent to pursuing women who have miscarriages?
And why do they need to know the fetus’ race?
- Race — The coroner and sheriff might need to know the race of the fetus because … well, honestly, I can’t think of a single reason that any of the above-mentioned considerations would change based on race. Other than racism, of course.
What else is there?
- Grandstanding — The last possibility is that the coroner has no real intention (or budget) to pursue FGG to identify this woman and is simply enjoying his 15 minutes of fame.
The Most Likely Explanation
Working through these possibilities, the most likely explanation is this: The coroner and sheriff hope to use FGG to identify a woman who suffered a miscarriage and charge her for improper disposal of the remains and/or child endangerment.
To do this, they will need to access DNA databases of laypeople who did not give informed consent to pursue women for medical events. There’s a possible racial component to this case, as well. Given my experience with racial dynamics in the Deep South, of the mother is Black, she’ll face much more severe consequences than if she’s White.
Is this really in the best interests of FGG? Of genealogy as a whole?
What are we doing here, people?
1 Curiously, a representative from Othram said “For specific details on services and turnarounds, we can only disclose them to Law Enforcement individuals.” Other companies were quite forthcoming.
2 I can personally attest to periods so heavy that could easily have been mistaken for a miscarriage.
Cover image: https://www.wistv.com/2026/02/13/sumter-county-deputies-investigate-after-fetus-found-water-treatment-plant/
