The Mato Grosso project "Remember Me" was announced this Monday (5) as a finalist for the Innovare Award. The initiative identifies deceased people who were without identification.
In activity since November 2024, the action reviews old cases at the Cuiabá IML. The team uses biometric and necropapiloscopy technologies to analyze the records.
In one year of execution, the project reviewed 130 cases and identified 60 people. The identification rate reached 46.2% in Mato Grosso.
The "Remember Me" project, developed by the Institute of Official Forensic Identification and Technical Identification of Mato Grosso (Politec-MT), was chosen as a finalist in the Justice and Citizenship category of the 23rd edition of the Innovare Award, in 2026. The result was published last Monday (5) and the award is scheduled for December 3rd.
The award recognizes and publicizes initiatives that promote changes in the Brazilian Justice system, even without depending on changes in legislation. In this edition, the award has categories with a free theme: Court, National Council of Justice (CNJ), Judge, Public Ministry, Public Defender, Advocacy and Justice and Citizenship.
The project, in operation since November 2024, uses forensic science techniques to identify dead people who remain unidentified and help locate family members of missing people. The initiative created a routine review of old cases of unidentified deceased people, which remained archived in the physical collection of the Instituto Médico Legal (IML), in Cuiabá. Before the initiative, there was no methodology for reanalyzing these cases.
The team started to integrate necropapiloscopy techniques, biometric technologies and standardized procedures to analyze the records and try to identify the victims. Among the tools used are automated fingerprint identification systems and facial recognition. The technology allows you to compare available records with large biometric databases.
According to those responsible for the project, the creation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) also helped to organize the work steps, reduce errors and rework and make the identification process faster.
Find out more:
More than 40 people buried as paupers in the last 20 years are identified;
Elderly man who disappeared on New Year's Eve is identified on the same date 15 years later;
Woman from Resplendor (MG) stabbed to death in Cuiabá is identified after 7 years;
Results achieved in one year
In one year of execution, 130 cases were reviewed. Of this total, 60 people were identified, which represents an identification rate of 46.2%. The average time to achieve identification was approximately 13 days.
The initiative is coordinated by papilloscopists Simone Mariana Delgado, André Silva, André Lopes Ruiz Talhari, Alexandre Silva Brasil, Andrea Ferreira de Oliveira, Larissa Nascimento Ribeiro, Joselaine Duarte Gonzaga and Wellington Alves de Barros, in addition to necropsy technicians Lowrrayny Franchesca de Paula and Valter Ferrari Castro.
For Simone, reaching the final of the award is a source of pride and happiness for the team. According to her, in addition to recognition, the nomination allows the project to expand its reach and give more visibility to the cause of missing people.
"In just one year of the project, we reviewed 130 cases of unidentified deceased people, who had already been buried in public cemeteries, and we managed to identify 60 people. We located 32 families. More than numbers, there are dozens of families, fathers, mothers, brothers, children, uncles, aunts, who finally had answers about the whereabouts of their missing loved ones", said Simone.
TJMT project is also a finalist
The Justice Without Borders Expedition, from the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso (TJMT), was also chosen as a finalist for the award in the Court Category. The initiative brings justice, health, citizenship, education, culture and social assistance services to communities in vulnerable situations.
Coordinated by Community Justice, the project operates on an itinerant basis and brings together different institutions to facilitate access to essential services. The initiative also serves indigenous populations and seeks to reduce geographic and structural barriers that hinder access to rights.
Thiago Carlos Neto, missing since August 2012, was identified 12 years later by the 'Remember Me' project. — Photo: Personal archive
