Maples concludes that... "The remains, recovered by the joint American-Laotian team at the crash site, were incomplete and in bad condition." "Only one tooth was 'useful' for identification." He also concludes that... "The recommendation for commingled remains ...is the only possible action."

Maples is basing his conclusions on the conclusions reached by CILHI! In turn, CILHI has made its recommendations on the conclusions reached by Maples. Unless the rules of logic have changed, this is a classic case of a flawed circular argument.

He also states..."further segregation of the remains is not possible without mtDNA." Apparently, mtDNA has been excluded by CILHI as a further means of identification, so Maples has to ammend his report with the following report.