Whitfield County Coroner's Fingerprint Scanner Cuts ID Time

The Whitfield County Coroner's Office now identifies deceased individuals in minutes instead of weeks, thanks to a portable fingerprint scanner donated by ATLBio in December 2025.

The need became clear after a summer 2025 case in which staff could not identify a deceased person locally and transported the body to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner's Office. The family waited approximately two and a half weeks for confirmation.

Coroner Clyde McDaniel and his staff researched portable scanners and approached ATLBio representatives, who donated the equipment. On January 27, 2026, staff used the scanner to obtain a positive identification within minutes in a case that otherwise could have taken weeks.

The device connects to fingerprint databases and allows the Coroner's Office to handle identifications locally without relying on state facilities when visual identification is not possible or family members are unavailable.

"Being able to reduce the waiting period for identification gives families answers sooner and allows them to begin the grieving process without unnecessary delays," McDaniel said.