News

Ask Matt ... about identity of found body

By Matt Matteson, Published: March 1, 2018

Q. A couple of months ago they found a skull and some bones near Mud Creek. Did they ever find out who this person was?

The remains found on Dec. 5 have not yet been identified nor has the cause of death. Hendersonville police sent the remains to the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Dr. Jerri McLemore, a board certified pathologist, who performs autopsies at the facility could not disclose specifics on the Hendersonville case, but she quickly admitted that there is a backlog at Wake Forest Medical and that her office is understaffed. “It’s rare to have a case where the remains have not been identified,” said McLemore, “but some cases get priority based on urgency.”
Using soft tissue samples, an autopsy at Wake Forest Medical can usually determine age, height, gender, race, length of time since death. When there is none to analyze, Dr. McLemore can send remains 100 miles down the road to Dr. Ann Ross, a consultant at N.C. State University. Dr. Ross is a forensic anthropologist who works on hard tissue evidence — bones and teeth.
When she gets remains from Wake Forest Medical, Dr. Ross first inventories and x-rays them. The chain of custody of the remains is important particularly if she has to testify in a court case. Her lab measures the long bones and then does a biological profile. If enough of the key bones and teeth are available, the decedent’s height, age, and sex can quickly be determined. Ancestral origin is more complex and for that test Dr. Ross uses a software program.
When unknown cranial remains arrive at her lab, Dr. Ross’s team can employ a research technique she calls 3D-ID. Here the skull is measured three-dimensionally using selected anatomical points. Measurements are then recorded and a computer compares the numbers against stored data. In a sense, the lab technician can “put a face on a skull” and make an informed determination on age, sex, and natural origin, all of which is needed for our unknown person found in Hendersonville. “The frontal sinus pattern is just as good, if not better, than a fingerprint,” Ross said.
DNA tissue analysis is an option and Dr. Ross confirmed that usable samples can be taken from bones and teeth but much depends on the time elapsed and condition of the remains. DNA analysis is expensive, and some labs are backlogged for more than a year. “Another problem with DNA testing is that unless you can match it to a known family member, you can’t make a positive identification,” said Ross.
If the medical examiner in Winston-Salem cannot determine how the person died, the NCSU lab in Raleigh can help. Using precision equipment that looks at fracture patterns and sequence, technicians can often establish the cause of death such as blunt force trauma and whether a crime was committed.
Dr. Ross is assisting with the European Migration Project. She said that there are many would-be refugees who leave Northern Africa by boat, never make it to land, and are recovered with no identification. Italian medical examiners have used Dr. Ross’ expertise and her 3-D ID methods to determine areas of origin.
Identification is about matching remains to those reported missing and there are national databases for each group. NamUs.gov is the primary website for both. NamUs has listed 315 persons missing in North Carolina and 114 open cases of unidentified remains. This is low compared to 1,573 unidentified in Pima County, Arizona. Remains can come in many forms including those that have been buried or cremated.
So do we have any clues as to the identity of the remains found in a wooded area behind the Green Meadows development? Tim Jones, the Hendersonville Rescue Mission’s operations manager, does. He reported a missing person in January of 2015. This individual was a regular at the mission but chose to spend nights on the street. “It’s heartbreaking for me to talk about this,” Jones said. “He likely froze to death on a bitter cold night.”

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