Ghostwheel
Pyrrhonist
OK, that is just weird. In the first place, this article doesn't say anything that hasn't already been said. Volusia was not able to extract the DNA, so they were going to send it to Texas. We already know that from a previous article. (http://www.myhorrynews.com/news/crime/article_5dfdaea6-2a12-11e4-93d5-0017a43b2370.html)
None of this is surprising considering Volusia had to do this in a cold case in 2013 (http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20131118/NEWS/131119485?p=2&tc=pg. University of Texas "participates in the President's DNA Initiative, launched in 2004, that aims to eliminate the testing backlog of DNA samples, improve DNA laboratories' testing capacities, provide research and development of DNA technologies, provide training and assistance for criminal justice professionals, provide access to post conviction DNA testing and provide the use of DNA for missing persons cases and identifying human remains."
From this article:
"Jarvis (the man who found the remains in the bag) said the skull he found was small, so the DNA will also help determine if it was a child or adult." This makes it sound like Jarvis said the DNA will help determine if it was an adult or child. In any case, I have never heard where DNA helps determine if a skeleton was an adult or child. Last I heard, they can only get age within 9 years, but that is with blood.
THEN
"Investigators said they need that DNA to find out if the victim was male or female."
This site
http://www.exploreforensics.co.uk/determining-sex.html
says:
"The determination of sex in skeletons is only possible once the male or female has reached adolescence or adulthood. Sexual dimorphism is slight in pre-adolescent children so this is a difficult task to perform if the skeleton is that of what might be a child."
Which then leads you to believe that the remains are probably a non-adult.
Except HERE http://www.academia.edu/923859/Literature_review_Determination_of_sex_of_juvenile_skeletons
"Although there is an ongoing debate about whether or not we are able to differentiate between females and males before puberty, there is a general agreement that there are indeed differences between the two sexes before the adolescent growth spurt. "
So then I have to wonder if the skeleton was actually complete or not. Or if the Volusia county sheriff's investigators are competent or not. Or if the reporters here were just having a slow day.
This is just a VERY bizarre article, with some nonsensical things.
verreaction:
