Residential school deaths were common and have been linked to the persistence of poorly constructed and maintained facilities. The actual number of deaths remains unknown due to inconsistent reporting by school officials and the destruction of medical and administrative records in compliance with retention and disposition policies for government records. Research by the TRC revealed that at least 3,201 students had died, mostly from disease. TRC chair, Justice Murray Sinclair, has suggested that the number of deaths may be closer to more than 6,000.