MARK OF THE BEAST

Child ID system makes its mark

Tom Bruynell was among the estimated 14,000 children who participated in a massive, seven-state identification drive organized by the Masonic Child Identification Program, or CHIP.
With 67 participating communities, including several in and around the Boston area, the effort was touted as the largest single-day "comprehensive" child identification drive ever held in the United States.
In addition to being fingerprinted, the children were videotaped answering questions about their family, favorite hiding spots, and places they like to go after school. Dentists and dental hygenists volunteered their time, taking teeth impressions and saliva samples for DNA analysis from each child.