2016
ONLY ON ABC7NEWS.COM: Bones found outside San Francisco apartment belong to child, adult - ABC7 San Francisco
"The piece I saw was a section, which looked like a jawbone, and the teeth definitely seemed similar to the molars," said apartment resident Natasha Koscak.
In late November, Koscak saw the mandible, the partial jawbone when police were called by the neighbor who found them.
That bone fragment and part of a tailbone were among other remains discovered in the planter boxes next to the apartment building's front door.
Police quickly sealed off the planter boxes and the dirt in front of the building.
They called anthropologists from Chico State University to help. They set up a makeshift lab, sifting through the dirt looking for other bones.''
VIDEO: Retired SF homicide inspector hopes child's bones solve cold case
Retired SF homicide inspector hopes child bones solves cold case
After a child's bones were found in a San Francisco planter box, retired homicide inspector Joe Toomey hopes it will help solve a cold case he's worked for years.
Some preliminary results are in. And they're disturbing.
The bones most likely belong to two individuals. First, the jawbone.
Discenza, who's the lead homicide investigator on the case, is trying to determine how the body was cut up.
"Whether it was a surgical saw or maybe a home improvement saw, we don't know yet," he said.
Discenza says they've been unable to make a match using dental records.
So now they're hoping they'll get a hit from the DNA.
"They'll be uploaded to the database and then they'll try to match it," Discenza said. "See if there are any missing persons, homicides, or anything like that to see if there's a match."
But if the bones are from someone whose DNA is not in the database, the remains may forever be a mystery.''
ONLY ON ABC7NEWS.COM: Bones found outside San Francisco apartment belong to child, adult - ABC7 San Francisco
"The piece I saw was a section, which looked like a jawbone, and the teeth definitely seemed similar to the molars," said apartment resident Natasha Koscak.
In late November, Koscak saw the mandible, the partial jawbone when police were called by the neighbor who found them.
That bone fragment and part of a tailbone were among other remains discovered in the planter boxes next to the apartment building's front door.
Police quickly sealed off the planter boxes and the dirt in front of the building.
They called anthropologists from Chico State University to help. They set up a makeshift lab, sifting through the dirt looking for other bones.''
VIDEO: Retired SF homicide inspector hopes child's bones solve cold case
Retired SF homicide inspector hopes child bones solves cold case
After a child's bones were found in a San Francisco planter box, retired homicide inspector Joe Toomey hopes it will help solve a cold case he's worked for years.
Some preliminary results are in. And they're disturbing.
The bones most likely belong to two individuals. First, the jawbone.
Discenza, who's the lead homicide investigator on the case, is trying to determine how the body was cut up.
"Whether it was a surgical saw or maybe a home improvement saw, we don't know yet," he said.
Discenza says they've been unable to make a match using dental records.
So now they're hoping they'll get a hit from the DNA.
"They'll be uploaded to the database and then they'll try to match it," Discenza said. "See if there are any missing persons, homicides, or anything like that to see if there's a match."
But if the bones are from someone whose DNA is not in the database, the remains may forever be a mystery.''
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