The National Pathology Laboratory has had to bury 105 bodies of victims of violent deaths that have never been claimed. According to El Caribe, between 118 and 20 people die a violent death each month, either as a result of a shooting, stabbing or being hit by a vehicle, and the bodies are abandoned in different parts of the country. In such cases the bodies are examined by the Forensics Pathology Department and buried by the unit, because the families never claim the remains. Last month 18 bodies were found, of both Dominicans and foreigners, on streets, in the bush and even in garbage heaps. According to Santo Jimenez Paez, the director of the Pathology Department, each body is given an autopsy, the Homicide Department is notified as well as the Missing Persons Department. If the remains are not identified within 48 or 72 hours, and, at times, as many as five days, the victim is buried after his fingerprints, body markings, dental record and other identifying characteristics are filed. The cost of the burial is borne by the Forensics Department and was given as about RD$3,000.