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# Exhumation

- Procedure

Exhumation is the recovery of a buried body or its remains for an investigation; in Colombia the prosecutor orders it.

Updated Nov 13, 2026

## Key points

- In Colombia the prosecutor orders the exhumation; the judicial police perform it and take the remains to Legal Medicine (Law 906, art. 217).
- Exhumed or decomposed bodies are not autopsied in hospitals (Decreto 786 de 1990, art. 29).
- Archaeological method: document, map and photograph before lifting; dig around the whole body.
- Primary grave: where the body was first placed; secondary: where it was moved and reburied (always disturbed).
- Soil, coffin, clothing and objects are evidence and may be needed for toxicology or dating.
- Each set of remains is packed and labelled separately to avoid commingling.

## What it is

Exhumation is needed when a buried body must be examined: to perform an autopsy that was not done, to check a doubtful cause of death or identity, or to recover the victims of clandestine or mass graves. In Colombia, the Code of Criminal Procedure (Law 906 of 2004, art. 217) says the prosecutor orders it; the judicial police check the site, carry out the exhumation technically and take the remains to Legal Medicine, where they are identified and studied. The recovery follows archaeological methods, as the UN Minnesota Protocol describes: the grave is documented, mapped and photographed before anything is moved, the remains are exposed whole and lifted following their anatomical order, and each body is packed apart to avoid mixing. Decomposed or exhumed bodies are not examined in hospital autopsy rooms (Decreto 786 de 1990, art. 29).

## What to document

- The order received and the authority that issued it.
- Site description, grave dimensions and depth, and position and orientation of the body.
- Type of burial (individual or mass, primary or secondary, disturbed or not).
- Objects found with their position (projectiles, casings, clothing, personal items).
- State of preservation of the remains.
- Each container, its label and the chain of custody from the site to the laboratory.

## How it is done

- Receive the prosecutor's written order and agree the plan with the judicial police and the specialists (archaeologist, anthropologist).
- Record date, place, start and end times and everyone present; photograph the site before and after each day's work.
- Map the grave with a datum point and grid; remove the soil in layers and sieve it for objects.
- Expose the whole body and associated objects before lifting anything; photograph and map them in place with scale and north.
- Measure the remains in the grave; lift skeletal elements following their anatomical articulation.
- Pack each individual set of remains, clothing and evidence separately; label, seal and record chain of custody.
- Excavate and sieve the soil directly beneath the body and record any finds in it.
- Stop only when undisturbed soil appears; take the remains to the Legal Medicine centre for autopsy and identification.

## Next step: what to do and document

- If asked to take part, do not dig or lift remains without the archaeological documentation: the context is lost forever.
- Treat the remains with respect and keep the family informed through the authority, according to the investigation.
- In the autopsy of an exhumed body, describe the changes due to burial and time, and separate them from injuries.
- Take samples for DNA (bone, teeth) and, if relevant, for toxicology, and record the state of the coffin and clothing.
- Hand the remains and samples over under chain of custody (Law 906 of 2004, arts. 216–217).
- Official text checked on 2026-11-13 at funcionpublica.gov.co.

## Common mistakes

- Lifting the body before photographing and mapping the grave.
- Pulling out bones one by one without following their anatomical order, which mixes individuals.
- Not sieving the soil, so small bones, teeth and projectiles are lost.
- Separating bones from the clothing in the field instead of in the laboratory.
- Doing the autopsy of an exhumed body in a hospital autopsy room.

## Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

## Who orders an exhumation for a criminal investigation in Colombia?

The prosecutor (fiscal). The judicial police carry it out and take the remains to Legal Medicine (Law 906 of 2004, art. 217).

## What is a secondary grave?

The place where remains are reburied after being removed from the first (primary) grave; it should always be treated as disturbed.

## Why are skeletal remains lifted following their anatomical articulation?

It is the only way to recover each body complete and avoid mixing bones of different people.

## Where may an exhumed body be autopsied under Decreto 786 de 1990?

In Legal Medicine rooms, cemetery rooms or other suitable places, but not in hospital autopsy rooms (art. 29).

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## Connections

## Related 7

- [The external examination of the body](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-external-examination-of-the-body/)
- [Are the remains human, and how old are they?](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/are-the-remains-human-and-how-old-are-they/)
- [The skeleton: sex, age, stature and ancestry](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-skeleton-sex-age-stature-and-ancestry/)
- [DNA identification: basics](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/dna-identification-basics/)
- [Chain of custody (cadena de custodia) in the hospital or rural post](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/chain-of-custody-in-the-hospital-or-rural-post/)
- [Preservative changes: adipocere, mummification, skeletonisation](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/preservative-changes-adipocere-mummification-skeletonisation/)
- [Disaster victim identification](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/disaster-victim-identification/)

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Educational content on forensic and legal medicine; not legal advice and no substitute for the technical guides of Colombia's National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Laws change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, follow the guide in force and ask the competent authority.

Sources: [Ley 906 de 2004, Código de Procedimiento Penal (arts. 216 y 217)](https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=14787) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2004); [Decreto 786 de 1990: autopsias clínicas y médico-legales y viscerotomías (compilado en el Decreto 780 de 2016)](https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=168508) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 1990); [The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016)](https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/MinnesotaProtocol.pdf) (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2017).

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