Chile creates DNA bank for Pinochet-era adoptions probe

Chilean authorities have created a bank of DNA data to help investigate suspected illegal adoptions under the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet, in power 1973 to 1990.
The database run by the government forensic medical service aims to create an independent register of genetic information for future analysis and comparisons as a court investigates "a suspected network of irregular adoptions of minors from hospitals in the 1970s and 1980s," a statement said.
Chilean courts are probing more than a dozen cases of suspected illegal adoptions of newborns declared stillborn but in reality given to new families, according to the online newspaper Ciper.
At the heart of scheme was Chilean priest Gerardo Joannon, suspended when the scandal broke.
The 77-year-old priest was the "link" between parents of pregnant teen girls and the doctors who declared the babies dead so they could be adopted without the knowledge of their parents, the news site said.
The report by Ciper indicated a dozen gynecologists also participated in the scheme. 
More than 3,200 people were killed or abducted and presumed killed during the Pinochet dictatorship, and 28,000 were tortured.