This AP feed story was picked up by a number of news services around the country on 18 and 19 February 2007. Note that it is a brief summary of the longer story and that some things have been left out or somewhat misstated in the article.
For example, it is believed by police that he most likely committed suicide in Spring of 1958, rather than in 1956. They released the earlier date as a possibility in the hope that it might generate more leads.
-------------------------------------
Remains found near Bedford in 1958 to remain unburied
By The Associated Press
Sunday, February 18, 2007
BEDFORD, Pa. - Unidentified skeletal remains found almost a half-century ago nicknamed "Mr. Bones" by police won't be buried anytime soon because Bedford County prosecutors still contend that they contain evidence of an unsolved crime.
"It's really an unusual case," District Attorney William Higgins said. "But the bottom line is that you really have to preserve any evidence you have, just in case someone would come forward."
The remains were to be buried in 2001 after Sheriff Gordon Diehl and his employees found a donated cemetery plot, gravestone and casket. Even a preacher had been lined up. But then-District Attorney Dwight Diehl got a court order to stop the burial and the remains were handed over to the state police.
Police released an FBI composite sketch three years ago showing a 6-foot-4, 200-pound man with brown hair between the ages of 30 and 35.
Crews installing a natural gas line found the body in October 1958 in a marshy area near a turnpike plaza in Bedford Township, about 85 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Authorities believe the man was shot in the head in 1956. They found a book of classic literature, a book of poetry, a shaving kit, a camp stove, a rifle and ammunition in the vicinity of the body. The rifle was traced to a gun shop in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Police also found a large sum of cash with the body, leading authorities to believe robbery was not a motive for the killing. "We received calls from all over the country and everything we received we have checked out," said Trooper Joseph Kovel. "But we still have not been able to identify him."
Source:
Remains found near Bedford in 1958 to remain unburied - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
LINK:
http://a.tribalfusion.com/p.media/a...jWGZbjRAQmTdJ5UbFPQVADYRCyUZd/808856/pop.html