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La: Coroner Seeks Help In Identifying 2.
Topic Started: Jan 7 2009, 09:03 AM (191 Views)
Ell
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Jefferson Parish coroner seeks public's help in identifying two dead women
by Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune
Tuesday January 06, 2009, 8:15 PM

Clay facial reconstruction of a woman whose remains were found on the Mississippi River batture in March.A dog being trained to hunt rabbits last March discovered one of two dead women whom Jefferson Parish coroner's investigators have not been able to identify. Parish workers mowing the lawn near a makeshift Marrero carnival ground in August 2006 found the other.

On Tuesday, Jefferson Parish coroner's office investigators Mark Bone and Anthony Buras released pictures of the women's artificially reconstructed faces, hoping someone recognizes the clay renditions and helps investigators solve two cases that have produced almost no clues.


Clay facial reconstruction of a woman whose remains were found in the back of a Marrero van Aug. 31, 2006.The woman found last March is most likely either black or Hispanic mixed race, according to a profile prepared by Mary Manheim, a Louisiana State University forensic anthropologist who oversees the lab that fashioned the clay facial models. She was between 19 and 28 years old and between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 7 inches tall.

The other woman was between 28 and 38 years old, according to Manheim's profile. She is black mixed race with Asian ancestry, and was between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 7 inches tall. Buras said she had a navel ring, a tattoo with the letters "TH" written in cursive, and braces on her teeth.

On March 30 about 7 p.m., skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area on the Mississippi River batture in the 6000 block of River Road in Marrero. A dog practicing finding rabbits returned to its owners with a human bone in its mouth, said Bone, the case's investigator.

When the trainers retraced the dog's steps, they stumbled upon a pile of remains and called authorities. Bone later discovered the woman had suffered blunt trauma, though it isn't clear how she died. She may have died any time between 1997 and 2007, but most likely after Hurricane Katrina, Bone said.

That discovery came less than two years after another unsolved case opened. On Aug. 31, 2006, at about 8:20 a.m., Jefferson Parish workers cutting grass near the Mississippi River in the 300 block of Barataria Boulevard noticed a foul smell coming from a fenced-in property used to stage fairs, Buras said.

The workers followed the smell to the back of a carnival truck and called police, who found the skeleton of a woman lying atop the foam mattress of a rollaway bed. Some tissue still remained. It isn't yet clear how she died, Buras said.

Neither woman had identification. Bone and Buras had nearly nothing to work with, aside from the women's teeth. One woman had four intact front teeth; the other had braces.

"At some point, these women had dental work done on them at a young age, " Buras said.

It is strange that no one has claimed their bodies if at one point they could pay or had someone pay to take care of their teeth, Bone said. "They most likely belonged to a decent socioeconomic group. They weren't homeless."

In April, the Jefferson Parish coroner's office sent the women's remains to Manheim's Forensic Anthropology Computer Enhancement Services lab in Baton Rouge, in accordance with a state law passed in 2006 that makes all state coroner's offices forward their unidentified bodies to the lab.

On April 28, FACES returned a profile to Bone and Buras. They checked missing persons reports on several databases but did not secure a single lead.

Once Manheim sent the clay facial reconstructions back to the investigators at the end of December, they decided to try their luck with the general public.

"(Several) years ago, we couldn't do this, " Bone said. "Hopefully, someone recognizes their pictures and calls us."

Anyone with information can contact Bone or Buras at 504.365.9100.

Ramon Antonio Vargas can be reached at rvargas@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3371.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01...oners_inve.html
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Clay facial reconstruction of a woman whose remains were found on the Mississippi River batture in March.
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Clay facial reconstruction of a woman whose remains were found in the back of a Marrero van Aug. 31, 2006.
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