Identifying missing persons from skeletal remains poses a challenge for law enforcement and forensic specialists. The complexities arise from the fragmentation of remains and challenges in obtaining viable biological samples due to decomposition and expose to degradation factors. In the cases where bones are the sole material available for DNA analysis, selecting an efficient DNA recovery procedure becomes crucial for a successful outcome. Purifying DNA from bones often demands specialized DNA extraction techniques compared to other biological samples. However, considerable variation among laboratories in the methods employed to extract DNA from hard tissues like bones. Many of these processes begin with a step focused on removing contaminants. Following surface decontamination, conventional techniques for DNA extraction typically involve grinding the bone into powder, prior to DNA purification. Although bone powdering is widely employed as an effective technique for extracting DNA from skeletal samples, it does have certain limitations. The process makes it more susceptible to contamination and it may not completely eliminate mineral impurities, impacting DNA extraction and subsequent analyses. Additionally, highly mineralized areas of bone tissue can create barriers for DNA extraction. The presentation details case studies in which skeletal remains sent to the Government Analyst’s Department, Sri Lanka for identification of missing individuals. In these case studies, an optimized technique of complete decalcification was employed by incubating entire bone fragments in a 0.5M EDTA solution minimum for two weeks. The EDTA solution both demineralizes the bone by removing minerals and simultaneously inactivates DNAs by chelating to bivalent cations like Magnesium or Calcium. The resulting, clean and decalcified bone samples were then subjected to extraction using a silica-based method, and the extracted DNA was subsequently typed through STR amplification.