A crew of workers found the skeletal remains of an unidentified person Tuesday while clearing a vacant lot just south of
Dental and DNA evaluations began on the remnants Wednesday. However, announcing a positive identification could take several months even with the samples being compared against the finite list of
“It depends on what stage in the case we are able to make a determination,” said Whit Majors, director of operations. “If we start doing DNA work and get a hit, then that would be great; but if we don’t get a hit, we have to explore other methods.”
Police discovered no evidence of foul play and little else on the scene that gave away who the person was or how they came to be in the woods along a heavily-trafficked highway. The climate, amount of undergrowth and decomposition made it difficult for officials to establish the cause of death, a timeline for how long the body had been there or even the gender, age or ethnicity of the person.
The remains were sent to
Anthropological evaluations can determine height, gender, lineage, age, medical history and if the person experienced any post-mortem injuries. The process is part of an educational program that gives anthropology graduate students hands-on experience with determining the origins of human remains. Even then, a positive identification could elude scientists.
“Its hard to say who it is or who it isn’t at this point,” Majors said. “The anthropology, although it will come later, will narrow down the possibilities.”