How did the police determine the identity of the deceased as Chris McCandless?

• A. By his self portraits and the SOS note signature
• B. By a DNA match in a national database
• C. By a wallet ID check
• D. By a witness's description

Answer: (A)

Identifying a deceased person in a remote setting relies on direct, verifiable identifiers tied to the individual. In this case, two such items do the work: self-portraits the person had created and a note signed with the individual’s name. Matching the deceased’s self-portraits to established images of Chris McCandless plus verifying the signature on the SOS note against his handwriting provides a clear link to his identity. DNA testing or relying on a wallet ID or a witness would be unnecessary or unlikely to provide a definitive match here because the documentary evidence already establishes who he was without needing external comparison.