11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

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11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

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11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

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Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains(video)

Dr Henry Lee Chief Emeritus of the Connecticut State Police Founder and Chair Professor of the Forensic Science Program at theUniversity of New Haven 11912 Photo by Peter Hvizdak New Haven Register January 19 2012 ph2442 Connecticut

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo Investigations Editor

Posted 020412 1200 AM EST |

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11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 410

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The regions nameless dead have been found floating in the Connecticut River hidden in ditches and dumped in forests and near highways Aroundthe state human remains have been found by street sweepers hunters hikers and passersshyby and unearthed by construction crews

Police have worked for years trying to figure out who they are shyshy a young woman found murdered in East Haven still remains nameless after 37 years

East Haven police Detective Sgt Bruce Scobie said police would like to solve the mystery know her name and capture her killer

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Scobie a father himself thinks about Jane Does parents and relatives

You wonder if this person had family somewhere at one time Scobie said Are they out there wondering Did they pass on never knowing whathappened to her It is hard to believe no one ever missed her There must be someone out there with a story of a friend or cousin who disappearedSomeday Id like to hear that a name has been put to her

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Crime Information Center the countrys number of unidentified deceased was at 7551 asof Jan 1 However it isnt mandatory for law enforcement to enter all cases into this database according to a center spokeswoman

FACEBOOK PAGE Missing in CT

RELATED Investigators hope circulating photos will help identify unknown remains

US Rep Chris Murphy Dshy5 who has proposed the federal Help Find the Missing Act or Billys Law in honor of missing Waterbury manWilliam Smolinski Jr estimates there are 40000 sets of unidentified remains nationwide Murphys proposal seeks to create an organized system tomatch remains to missing people and an incentive grants program for law enforcement and medical examiners to report information to NCIC theUS Department of Justices National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or NamUs and the National DNA Index System

Unless you put information about unidentified remains on NamUs you are cutting out the most important investigators the loved ones of themissing Murphy said as NamUs is open to the public The Internet is perfectly positioned to solve these cases yet we arent using it to itscapacity

On Friday NamUs which launched in 2007 listed 41 cases of unidentified remains found in Connecticut going back to 1972 It listed 8165 openunidentified remains cases for the country

While various databases can help match the missing to the unidentified investigators frequently arent using all available databases Older casespredate DNA extraction technology In many area cases the unidentified bodies were buried so investigators dont have DNA to add to databasesunless they exhume the bodies

Of the 41 cases of unidentified remains listed on NamUs for Connecticut only three show DNA samples have been submitted with no DNA samplestaken even for many cases in years when the technology was available the site shows

Under state law effective in October 2011 in cases involving remains where homicide is suspected the office of the chief state medical examiner hasto obtain tissue samples bone and hair for DNA typing and these samples must go to the Division of Scientific Services within the Department ofPublic Safety

While several cases of unidentified remains from years ago have been added to NamUs in recent months the NamUs list isnt complete State VictimAdvocate Michelle Cruz said plans are under way for statewide training for law enforcement on how to use NamUs

East Havens Jane Doe for example isnt on there yet though police say they are considering including her

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11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 510

A truck driver found her body Aug 16 1975 in a drainage ditch behind a department store on Frontage Road The white woman was found wrappedin a canvas tarp with black wire around her neck waist and knees Her cause of death was asphyxiation by suffocation according to police

Police have circulated an artists rendering of the brunette who is believed to have been 18 to 28 years old They have featured her case on The DoeNetwork This has led to occasional leads but none have led to Does identity

Scobie said police are discussing exhuming her body from a Hamden cemetery to try to get DNA from her remains

Police have Jane Does dental records but she was found in an era that preshydates the widespread use of DNA testing Scobie said

Scobie said having her DNA may not lead to any matches because there may not be DNA available from women who went missing back then forcomparison

Exhuming her body is something that has been discussed Scobie said If the laboratory said there would be viable DNA we would probably doit

Also while an artist did a rendering of Doe years ago Scobie said computer technology has advanced so much that using her skull today could resultin a more accurate image of what she looked like

Henry C Lee forensics expert professor and founder of the University of New Haven Forensic Research Training Center said technology haschanged tremendously in the years since the discovery of East Havens Jane Doe According to Lee in older cases of unidentified remains DNAsamples werent taken but with todays technology DNA can be extracted from hair and bone

Lee also cautioned that getting DNA from the remains wont necessarily solve the East Haven mystery

It is so many years ago it would be hard to track down family to get the known DNA (for comparison) Lee said If we dont know where thevictim came from we dont have known DNA to compare with and that becomes shooting in the dark and makes the case very difficult

Scobie said he doesnt believe Jane Doe was from the area as he believes someone would have reported her missing and she would have beenrecognized back then from publicity about the case It is possible her parents are dead he said

The theory is she was killed elsewhere and then brought to that location Scobie said I personally dont think the crime occurred very far awayShe was pretty well bound tied and gagged Someone took their time with her I think it was a premeditated killing

Doe possibly had a small mole on her chin and she had pierced ears and wore small gold circular earrings according to Scobie

There was an item used to gag her which leads me to believe the homicide was committed locally he said

Police dont want to be specific about the item used to gag the victim because if police ever get a confession only the killer could identify it Scobiesaid

Police believe she had been there up to five days before her discovery

Whoever put her there did not want her found Scobie said There are a lot of theories Im not sure a person who was just traveling through wouldtake the time to conceal a body like that

Over the years leads about her possible identity have come through the Doe Network but they have all been ruled out through dental or medicalcomparisons according to Scobie

According to Scobie police have a suspect in Jane Does death Glen Askeborn who served prison time for a similar slaying in Maine Askebornwho dressed in womens clothes used the name Samantha Glenner also according to police

According to the Maine Department of Corrections Askeborn was released from prison in September 2009

11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 610

The body in that (Maine) case was concealed and disposed of in a similar manner and we went to interview (Askeborn) in a Maine prison Scobiesaid He denied any knowledge of it He lived in East Haven at the time of this (Jane Doe) incident and there were a lot of similarities Personally Ido think he was involved but we have no direct evidence

Investigators in Old Saybrook have their own unsolved case Fishermen discovered the badly decomposed body of a man floating in the ConnecticutRiver in Old Saybrook on March 31 1998

John Does case is on the Doe Network and it was entered on NamUs in 2008 The NamUs site says his DNA is not available but his dentalinformation is available for comparison The site estimates his age at between 30 and 35 and describes him as a white male who was 5 feet 8 inchestall His remains were mostly skeletonized He was wearing a coat with a purple zipper and had remnants of black socks and pants and he wore size9frac12 FILA brand sneakers He also had a silver lighter the NamUs site shows Officials estimate his death as between 1990 and 1998 His remainswere eventually buried as a John Doe

The man is featured in the states cold case playing card deck which is given to state prisoners as the nine of hearts The card describes him as anunidentified person aged between 29 and 32 and about 200 pounds A drawing of him on the card depicts him as darkshyskinned

Old Saybrook police Sgt Charles Mercer said the investigation determined his body was in the water for years and police believe he floateddownriver to Old Saybrook

The condition of the body indicates he was in a marshy area before high water moved the remains to the river Mercer said

According to Mercer the facial reconstruction of a darkshyskinned male was done by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children andpolice believe it is an accurate representation of what he looked like though Mercer said the skin color could be much lighter and is at best a guess

His bone structure suggests he probably was Hispanic or Caucasian or of mixed race Mercer said

Police have widely distributed the mans image even featuring his case on Americas Most Wanteds website His dental records were submitted tothe American Dental Association and the Department of Defenses dental unit according to Mercer

Police do not know the victims cause of death so they dont know if there was foul play Mercer said They also do not have his DNA Mercerconfirmed

We could not submit DNA as there were some restrictions at the time and we really did not have a cause of death Mercer said

Exhuming the body such as for DNA testing isnt likely until police can locate someone linked to him according to Mercer

Police distributed descriptions of the mans clothing and because of the lighter he had even contacted the National Lighter Museum in Oklahomahoping for leads and clues to his identity The lighter model was widely distributed police said

It is all to no avail Mercer said I had always hoped to identify him before I retire A lot of time was expended but with no results Im afraid

Milford police are still investigating two unidentified remains cases that date back to the early 1990s

On Aug 21 1992 people walking in the woods off Oronoque Road in Milford found the body of an Asian man in his early to mid 20s The victimhad been shot multiple times and rolled up in a rug His case is listed on the NamUs database The site indicates DNA testing was not done butinvestigators do have his dental Xshyrays He is also on the Doe Network

Also in Milford on March 24 1994 a city public works crew found a male headless torso in a bag also near Oronoque Road by the HousatonicRiver The torso case hadnt been entered into NamUs as of Friday

Officer Jeffrey Nielsen spokesman for the Milford police said both cases are active investigations Investigators received an inquiry on the torso caseas recently as December from Canada but the remains didnt match according to Nielsen who said the torso case likely hasnt been put on NamUsbecause of the lack of identifying information

11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 710

We are hopeful any open investigation can be solved Nielsen said One of the obstacles for the torso case is that there are no dental records orfingerprints to go off of no limbs with tattoos which are all helpful in identifying When these cases happened DNA databases werent available

You need to have identifying information on the people shyshy you need things for comparison Nielsen said

Lee said he was involved in investigating the Milford dismembering case

That victim was more than likely not from Connecticut Lee said No missing person matched that individual Either the person was from anotherplace and came to Connecticut and was killed here or was murdered someplace else and dumped in Milford

According to Lee while technology has improved for identifying remains investigators still face obstacles such as time and staffing Technologyhas changed tremendously shyshy we now have databases Lee said Police departments are pretty busy and have new cases Sometimes when nobodyin a family is pushing and police have new cases and the laboratory people have a big backlog a lot of cases fall through the cracks with nobodyreally pursuing them It is possible if they were focused on they would be solved Reviewing the cases takes a lot of time and manpower

Lee noted that the National Cold Case Center at the Henry C Lee Institute of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven has had success atsolving old cases but investigators have to ask for their assistance

State police spokesman Lt J Paul Vance said he doesnt know exactly how many unidentified remains cases there are in the state

Vance said he doesnt think staffing at the laboratory is an issue

When asked why it is so difficult to identify these people Vance said Sometimes there are no identifiers or there is nothing on file to compare themto even if the information is entered into a database

Kenna Quinet associate professor of criminal justice law amp public safety at Indiana UniversityshyPurdue University said some long unsolved casesmay fall under the category of the missing missing or unidentified people who were never reported missing

These individuals often are prostitutes homeless drug addicts children who have been kicked out of their homes undocumented immigrants orpeople who lost contact with family and friends according to Quinet

Theres really two levels one group of people who are never missed by anyone and others who are eventually missed but there is a significant delayin the missing report shyshy days weeks months even years Quinet said That obviously makes for a difficult investigation for police

I think we are underestimating the number of homicides and the number of serial murders in the US because we are not counting the missingmissing and some people are not only never reported as missing but we never find the body Quinet said

Visit the Missing in Connecticut Facebook page at FacebookcomMissingInCT

Call Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at 203shy789shy5707 Follow her on Twitter nhrinvestigate

Top Stories

lsaquo rsaquo

Join the Conversation

View comments

Police West Haven school board employee charged withfelony for fuel theft

Newtown parents say familiesrsquo needs still unmet questionwhere charitable donations have gone

11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 610

The body in that (Maine) case was concealed and disposed of in a similar manner and we went to interview (Askeborn) in a Maine prison Scobiesaid He denied any knowledge of it He lived in East Haven at the time of this (Jane Doe) incident and there were a lot of similarities Personally Ido think he was involved but we have no direct evidence

Investigators in Old Saybrook have their own unsolved case Fishermen discovered the badly decomposed body of a man floating in the ConnecticutRiver in Old Saybrook on March 31 1998

John Does case is on the Doe Network and it was entered on NamUs in 2008 The NamUs site says his DNA is not available but his dentalinformation is available for comparison The site estimates his age at between 30 and 35 and describes him as a white male who was 5 feet 8 inchestall His remains were mostly skeletonized He was wearing a coat with a purple zipper and had remnants of black socks and pants and he wore size9frac12 FILA brand sneakers He also had a silver lighter the NamUs site shows Officials estimate his death as between 1990 and 1998 His remainswere eventually buried as a John Doe

The man is featured in the states cold case playing card deck which is given to state prisoners as the nine of hearts The card describes him as anunidentified person aged between 29 and 32 and about 200 pounds A drawing of him on the card depicts him as darkshyskinned

Old Saybrook police Sgt Charles Mercer said the investigation determined his body was in the water for years and police believe he floateddownriver to Old Saybrook

The condition of the body indicates he was in a marshy area before high water moved the remains to the river Mercer said

According to Mercer the facial reconstruction of a darkshyskinned male was done by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children andpolice believe it is an accurate representation of what he looked like though Mercer said the skin color could be much lighter and is at best a guess

His bone structure suggests he probably was Hispanic or Caucasian or of mixed race Mercer said

Police have widely distributed the mans image even featuring his case on Americas Most Wanteds website His dental records were submitted tothe American Dental Association and the Department of Defenses dental unit according to Mercer

Police do not know the victims cause of death so they dont know if there was foul play Mercer said They also do not have his DNA Mercerconfirmed

We could not submit DNA as there were some restrictions at the time and we really did not have a cause of death Mercer said

Exhuming the body such as for DNA testing isnt likely until police can locate someone linked to him according to Mercer

Police distributed descriptions of the mans clothing and because of the lighter he had even contacted the National Lighter Museum in Oklahomahoping for leads and clues to his identity The lighter model was widely distributed police said

It is all to no avail Mercer said I had always hoped to identify him before I retire A lot of time was expended but with no results Im afraid

Milford police are still investigating two unidentified remains cases that date back to the early 1990s

On Aug 21 1992 people walking in the woods off Oronoque Road in Milford found the body of an Asian man in his early to mid 20s The victimhad been shot multiple times and rolled up in a rug His case is listed on the NamUs database The site indicates DNA testing was not done butinvestigators do have his dental Xshyrays He is also on the Doe Network

Also in Milford on March 24 1994 a city public works crew found a male headless torso in a bag also near Oronoque Road by the HousatonicRiver The torso case hadnt been entered into NamUs as of Friday

Officer Jeffrey Nielsen spokesman for the Milford police said both cases are active investigations Investigators received an inquiry on the torso caseas recently as December from Canada but the remains didnt match according to Nielsen who said the torso case likely hasnt been put on NamUsbecause of the lack of identifying information

11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 710

We are hopeful any open investigation can be solved Nielsen said One of the obstacles for the torso case is that there are no dental records orfingerprints to go off of no limbs with tattoos which are all helpful in identifying When these cases happened DNA databases werent available

You need to have identifying information on the people shyshy you need things for comparison Nielsen said

Lee said he was involved in investigating the Milford dismembering case

That victim was more than likely not from Connecticut Lee said No missing person matched that individual Either the person was from anotherplace and came to Connecticut and was killed here or was murdered someplace else and dumped in Milford

According to Lee while technology has improved for identifying remains investigators still face obstacles such as time and staffing Technologyhas changed tremendously shyshy we now have databases Lee said Police departments are pretty busy and have new cases Sometimes when nobodyin a family is pushing and police have new cases and the laboratory people have a big backlog a lot of cases fall through the cracks with nobodyreally pursuing them It is possible if they were focused on they would be solved Reviewing the cases takes a lot of time and manpower

Lee noted that the National Cold Case Center at the Henry C Lee Institute of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven has had success atsolving old cases but investigators have to ask for their assistance

State police spokesman Lt J Paul Vance said he doesnt know exactly how many unidentified remains cases there are in the state

Vance said he doesnt think staffing at the laboratory is an issue

When asked why it is so difficult to identify these people Vance said Sometimes there are no identifiers or there is nothing on file to compare themto even if the information is entered into a database

Kenna Quinet associate professor of criminal justice law amp public safety at Indiana UniversityshyPurdue University said some long unsolved casesmay fall under the category of the missing missing or unidentified people who were never reported missing

These individuals often are prostitutes homeless drug addicts children who have been kicked out of their homes undocumented immigrants orpeople who lost contact with family and friends according to Quinet

Theres really two levels one group of people who are never missed by anyone and others who are eventually missed but there is a significant delayin the missing report shyshy days weeks months even years Quinet said That obviously makes for a difficult investigation for police

I think we are underestimating the number of homicides and the number of serial murders in the US because we are not counting the missingmissing and some people are not only never reported as missing but we never find the body Quinet said

Visit the Missing in Connecticut Facebook page at FacebookcomMissingInCT

Call Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at 203shy789shy5707 Follow her on Twitter nhrinvestigate

Top Stories

lsaquo rsaquo

Join the Conversation

View comments

Police West Haven school board employee charged withfelony for fuel theft

Newtown parents say familiesrsquo needs still unmet questionwhere charitable donations have gone

11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 710

We are hopeful any open investigation can be solved Nielsen said One of the obstacles for the torso case is that there are no dental records orfingerprints to go off of no limbs with tattoos which are all helpful in identifying When these cases happened DNA databases werent available

You need to have identifying information on the people shyshy you need things for comparison Nielsen said

Lee said he was involved in investigating the Milford dismembering case

That victim was more than likely not from Connecticut Lee said No missing person matched that individual Either the person was from anotherplace and came to Connecticut and was killed here or was murdered someplace else and dumped in Milford

According to Lee while technology has improved for identifying remains investigators still face obstacles such as time and staffing Technologyhas changed tremendously shyshy we now have databases Lee said Police departments are pretty busy and have new cases Sometimes when nobodyin a family is pushing and police have new cases and the laboratory people have a big backlog a lot of cases fall through the cracks with nobodyreally pursuing them It is possible if they were focused on they would be solved Reviewing the cases takes a lot of time and manpower

Lee noted that the National Cold Case Center at the Henry C Lee Institute of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven has had success atsolving old cases but investigators have to ask for their assistance

State police spokesman Lt J Paul Vance said he doesnt know exactly how many unidentified remains cases there are in the state

Vance said he doesnt think staffing at the laboratory is an issue

When asked why it is so difficult to identify these people Vance said Sometimes there are no identifiers or there is nothing on file to compare themto even if the information is entered into a database

Kenna Quinet associate professor of criminal justice law amp public safety at Indiana UniversityshyPurdue University said some long unsolved casesmay fall under the category of the missing missing or unidentified people who were never reported missing

These individuals often are prostitutes homeless drug addicts children who have been kicked out of their homes undocumented immigrants orpeople who lost contact with family and friends according to Quinet

Theres really two levels one group of people who are never missed by anyone and others who are eventually missed but there is a significant delayin the missing report shyshy days weeks months even years Quinet said That obviously makes for a difficult investigation for police

I think we are underestimating the number of homicides and the number of serial murders in the US because we are not counting the missingmissing and some people are not only never reported as missing but we never find the body Quinet said

Visit the Missing in Connecticut Facebook page at FacebookcomMissingInCT

Call Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at 203shy789shy5707 Follow her on Twitter nhrinvestigate

Top Stories

lsaquo rsaquo

Join the Conversation

View comments

Police West Haven school board employee charged withfelony for fuel theft

Newtown parents say familiesrsquo needs still unmet questionwhere charitable donations have gone

11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

httpwwwnhregistercomgeneralshynews20120204missingshyinshyconnecticutshygivingshyashynameshytoshytheshymissingshymissingshydatabasesshyandshydnashymayshyhelpshyidentifyshyunnhellip 810

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11202014 Missing in Connecticut Giving a name to the missing missing databases and DNA may help identify unnamed remains (video)

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