I would also speculate that if the ME wasn't able to determine a cause of death that they would have called in a forensic anthropologist to assist.
I found this article, dated March 31 2015. I thought I had read where a forensic anthropologist was going to be assisting. But haven't located that article again, yet lol
More of John Glasgow's skeletal remains were found Tuesday in Petit Jean State Park. The remains have been in nature for 7 years and are now in possession of the Arkansas State Crime Lab. Glasgow's clothes and wallet were also found.
Now medical examiners are faced with a big challenge to figure out what happened. While the crime lab can't comment specifically on the Glasgow case, the state's chief medical examiner did tell Channel 7 News what they do when faced with a case of old remains.
In a rural state like Arkansas, it's not rare to see human remains come into the state crime lab that have been aged for years, according to Charles Kokes, a 30 year medical examiner.
I'd say every year we get roughly a dozen cases that involve skeletal remains, said Kokes.
Not all of those cases are suspected as homicide, but if they are, Kokes says it's more of a challenge to figure out what happened.
Probably the vast majority of such cases unless you have some specific information regarding the individuals death, you're likely not going to be able to render a cause of death, said Kokes.
The medical examiner x-rays all of the remains, then they look for abnormalities.
So you go through bone by bone. You clean it, you look at it, examine it, looking for any evidence of any trauma that might be present, Kokes said.
Sometimes there are context clues like clothes. But once years have gone by, it may be impossible to determine what really happened.
Which essentially means we don't have enough medical information to determine a cause of death, said Kokes.
Glasgow's cause of death has not been determined.
http://www.katv.com/story/28556801/how-do-medical-examiners-determine-the-cause-of-death