Ruminating on skeletal remains

We (I and some of the deputies) were talking at lunch in the office today about skeletal remains. By their recollection we have had more than our fair share of late. Granted some were partially skeletal, such as the gentleman who died and burned in his pickup on a back road here in our county. Skeletal remains they are none the less. Two cases of strictly skeletal remains within 2 months, that just doesn’t happen very often, not in the recollection of the folks in my office.

The first was a male found on a golf course shortly before it opened for the season and the second is a female found in a relatively unfrequented spot by a passer-by. The first is possibly an individual who had been living/camping in the vicinity of where he was found, the second likely brought there by a person or persons unknown. The first likely dead in the area he was found several weeks, the second more a matter of months.

Nature, with all her little helpers, has done her natural work with both of them after their deaths. Skeletalized remains. But it is important to remember they were once alive, walking around, talking, interacting, real people. I hope that they will be identified soon.

We are working on identification. The former with distinctive teeth in a front bridge-work and we are working with someone to come up with a sketch of what he looked like in life. With the latter, the Sherriff’s Department is working on “leads”, working the investigation, we are working on dental examination prepping for the possibility of comparable dental records, as well as the possible submission of DNA (bone marrow or dental pulp) if someone turns up to allow for comparison.

Skeletal remains