Clea Koff facts for kids

Clea Koff (born in 1972) is a British-born American forensic anthropologist and author. She worked for the United Nations (UN) for several years. Her job was to help find evidence and identify victims in places like Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo.

Early Life and Education

Clea Koff was born in 1972. Her mother was from Tanzania and her father was from the United States. Both of her parents were documentary filmmakers who focused on human rights. Clea and her older brother traveled a lot with their parents. She spent her childhood in England, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, and the United States.

By the time she was a teenager, Clea decided she wanted to study human osteology, which is the study of human bones. She first studied this in California. She later earned her bachelor's degree in anthropology from Stanford University.

Becoming a Forensic Anthropologist

After Stanford, Clea Koff continued her studies. She joined a master's program in forensic anthropology at the University of Arizona. She finished her master's degree in 1999 at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She combined her studies with her work for the UN between 1996 and 2000.

Working with the United Nations

When Clea Koff was 23, she joined a small team of UN scientists. They were working to find and examine victims of the Rwandan genocide in Rwanda. Her important job was to find clues from the remains to help bring those responsible to justice. She also helped families identify their loved ones.

Clea Koff worked on five missions for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She also worked on two missions for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Her work took her to many different countries.

Clea Koff's Books

Clea Koff wrote a memoir about her experiences working with the UN. It is called The Bone Woman: Among the dead in Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. This book was published in 2004 in many countries. These included the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It was later published in other countries like France, Germany, and Poland.

She also writes mystery novels. Her first crime fiction book is Freezing. It is part of the Jayne & Steelie Mystery Series. This book was published in the UK in August 2011 and in the US in December 2011. The second book in the series is called Passing, but it has not been published yet.

Helping Missing People

In 2005, Clea Koff started a non-profit group called The Missing Persons Identification Resource Center (MPID). It was based in Los Angeles. The center's main goal was to help connect families looking for missing people in the US with the Coroner's Office. Coroner's offices often have thousands of unidentified bodies. The MPID center closed in 2012.

Clea Koff also helped with the case of Mitrice Richardson. Mitrice was a 24-year-old woman who went missing. When her remains were found, Clea Koff helped by giving advice on the case. She even helped search the area and found a finger bone belonging to Mitrice months after others had searched.