Forensics experts called to help investigate human remains found in York County


Forensics experts called to help investigate human remains found in York County

Witnesses have spotted a cluster of what appear to be drones -- larger than those typically used by hobbyists -- as well as a possible fixed-wing aircraft flying in several areas along the Raritan River in New Jersey since Nov. 18. The FBI is investigating.

Whose remains were found Monday in a wooded area of Fairview Township?

Finding out the answer to that question won't be easy, according to experts called in by York County to assist in the identification process.

"We try to figure out how did the body get there, how did the individual get there and were they alive at the time when they were at the scene," said Dennis Dirkmaat, co-chair of Mercyhurst University's Department of Applied Forensic Sciences.

Dirkmaat, who spoke to The York Dispatch on Thursday, said his team is helping local authorities in their investigation.

Fairview Township Police said the remains were found around 10:30 a.m. Monday in a wooded area off Pleasant View Road -- not far from I-83 near York County's border with Cumberland County.

Police said the remains appeared to have been there for a long time, although the precise timeline is part of what Dirkmaat and his team are currently looking into.

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Members of the York County Coroner's Office along with others were brought to the scene to help with the investigation that could shed light as to who this person was.

For York County Coroner Pam Gay, who has been coroner since 2014, this is her first experience in dealing with skeletal remains since she assumed her post.

"There were several instances that happened right before I became coroner," Gay said. "There have been other instances in our office that have involved skeletal remains, but nothing for the last 11 years."

In 2013, skeletal remains were found in West Manchester Township. It wasn't until 2021 when new DNA technology revealed that the unidentified homicide victim was primarily Black and could have relatives in North Carolina, according to police. Investigators previously thought the John Doe was white, perhaps Hispanic, but the DNA Doe Project determined he is of 75% sub-Saharan African descent.

Even with that information, that person has yet to be identified, Gay said.

Variables, such as how long they remains have been in a location and environmental conditions those remains have been exposed to come into play when trying to identify human remains, Gay said.

"If it's been a significant amount of time, the weather, day in and day out, can have an effect on those remains. And sometimes, depending on where the remains are found, there can be animal activity, sometimes remains are scattered," Gay said. "It can make it quite complicated."

Where skeletal remains are involved, anthropologists are brought in to help with the investigation, Gay said, who are experts when it comes to skeletal remains.

In this case, the Mercyhurst Forensic Scene Recovery Team from Mercyhurst University in Erie was brought in to help with the investigation.

The Mercyhurst team helps recover human remains from a variety of scenes, including outdoor scenes, fatal fires, and mass disasters. They also analyze skeletal remains to establish a biological profile and interpret trauma.

"This is what Mercyhurst does. That is what they are very good at," Gay said. "This is a team of anthropology students as well as their director, Dennis Dirkmaat."

Dirkmaat, who has been involved in forensic anthropologist for almost 40 years, wouldn't go into much detail as to how long the remains found in Fairview Township may have been there, but did say portions of the person's clothing were found at the scene, which could help determine an identity.

"We can use that to see whether this was in summer or winter or whatever," Dirkmaat said, "although is some cases if individuals are homeless, they may be wearing all of their clothes at the time of their death, so they may have multiple layers and may have died in the summer but have a winter coat on."

The Mercyhurst team did outdoor crime scene reconstruction at the Fairview Township site, Dirkmaat said, where they analyzed the scene, and tried to figure out the history of that scene and how the body got there. Typically, it takes 5 to 8 hours to do that initial work, he said.

In this case, he said it's possible the individual arrived at the scene via the nearby interstate.

"When we find the remains, we try to determine whether we're dealing with a surface scatter, a body that was dumped on the surface, or was there a burial involved, or a partial burial," Dirkmaat said. "If there was an indication of burning of the remains or if there were any other modifications."

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Dirkmaat said the Fairview Township remains were taken back to Mercyhurst for analysis. it is there they see how much soft tissue to determine the pattern of decomposition, which helps determine how long the remains were at the site they were found.

"Once we clean the remains, we do what we call a biological profile, which is assessing the age, the sex, the stature," he said. "Then we get a general profile, whether it was a male or a female, about how tall were they, what was their approximate age."

That analysis will also determine the cause of death, Dirkmaat said, which hasn't been determined.

Gay said the anthropology team will try and find DNA, if they can, and send it out for analysis to see if a match can be found.

"That can be difficult, especially if you have no presumptive idea of who it might be," she said, adding that DNA samples provided by the families of missing persons could help lead to an identification.

As of now, Gay said the office doesn't have even a suspicion about the identity of the remains found.

"That makes it much more complicated," she said. "If you have an idea of who it might be, like if you have a list of matching people and you can match it against that, then it helps."

Gay said the coroner's office is in the process of entering what information they have into NamUs, a database that lists the names of missing and unidentified persons, that can be used by anyone who may be looking for someone.

"They can look at some photos and some artifacts that were found with the person," she said. "It may trigger a family member or friend to call investigators."

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