February 20, 2009
UW transfers human remains from anthropology archive to Medical Examiner
The University of Washington has transferred the remains of eight individuals whose bones were in the archives of a UW forensic anthropologist working at the UW from 1968 to 1991 to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The remains of two of the eight individuals will be transferred from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office to law enforcement officials in Grays Harbor County and the city of Bellingham. The Medical Examiner and police departments plan to use DNA analysis to try and identify these individuals, some of whom may have been crime victims.
Daris Swindler, a UW professor of anthropology, often was consulted by law enforcement authorities in the state because of his forensic expertise. He was a consultant to the officers who brought Ted Bundy to justice and also worked with the Green River Task Force. Most of Swindler’s consultative work occurred before the era of DNA analysis, before many police departments had their own forensic units, and before medical examiners’ offices employed their own forensic anthropologists. Swindler died in December 2007.
Swindler frequently was sent bones to identify. It is not known what identification work occurred on the bones stored in the anthropology archive. All of the materials were archived for preservation and have remained in storage since the time of their arrival.
Last year, the Yakima Police Department contacted the UW, because the department had records indicating that the skull of a 1977 crime victim had been sent to the UW. The UW department of anthropology went through its archives with the help of Katherine Taylor, forensic anthropologist in the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. She was unable to find the skull requested by the Yakima police in the UW archives, but she did become aware that the archives contained the remains of eight individuals, and that some of those remains could be forensic.
Taylor found in the archive the skull of a juvenile, which was stored in a box containing a postmark from 1980 from Bay Center on the Olympic Peninsula. Because this skull may be associated with an investigation in Grays Harbor County, it will be turned over to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Department, which is attempting to identify the individual.
Another skull was found in a box containing a letter from 1981 identifying it as having come from the Bellingham area. This will be turned over to the Bellingham Police Department. A third group of bones contained a tag from 1958 that is possibly from a police department in Michigan. Efforts will be made to deliver these bones to the proper authorities.
The science of identifying human remains has changed dramatically since the 1960s. DNA testing began in the 1970s and has improved gradually over the years. But it was only in the past several years that the technology has existed to extract DNA from bone.
All forensic investigations are now conducted by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. Should the UW receive requests or remains, they would be transferred immediately to that office.
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For more information about the King County Medical Examiner’s Office role, contact James Apa, Communications Manager for Public Health – Seattle & King County, 206-205-5442, james.apa@kingcounty.gov. For information about the Grays Harbor investigation, contact the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office at 360-249-3711. For more information about the Bellingham remains, contact the Bellingham Police Department at 360-778-8800.
