Mackenzie Lueck's Charred Remains Found in Backyard of Suspected Killer
Just one of many stories. To say "remains" means more than just one hair. The word "remains" was used, at least that's what many reporters heard.
My own belief is that he did in fact try to burn the body and failed, but caused enough heat damage that the body was disarticulated to some degree.
(warning - what follows is difficult to read)
IMO (as an anthropologist) is that small parts of the body (such as finger bones) might very well have been lost in the burn and certainly two burns would have allowed the extremities to become disarticulated.
IIRC, the remains near the dam had been partially burned.
News reports, initially, said that her body was burned in the backyard (not just that "tissue" had been found). Many things could have given the forensic team evidence that the entire body had been in the fire (even if most of it was not still there). In fact, some very simple tests could have shown the outline of a human body and its ashes/char.
As AA found out, it's not as simple as he thought, to burn a human body. Different parts of the body react to flame (and gasoline) very differently. The larger bones would still be there (but possibly no longer connected to each other, which is what I think is most likely - the rib cage would still be intact, perhaps even the spine and skull, but smaller bones in the body would have been disarticulated). That's why people lose fingers in fires (or toes or entire hands or feet).
So part of her was in that burn pit, but enough was missing that they knew they were still looking. Transporting her remains was much easier for him (despite his "weight lifting" he was, like most people who have to transport a body, out of his league in dealing with it).
The part that was missing was almost certainly the torso (very hard to destroy in a fire). And the skull (doesn't burn well at all). Some of the organs, as well (like the liver) might have still been in the fire, intact. Every cell in the body is sexed (not just sex parts). AA would likely not have been able to tell a charred liver from a charred object like a purse (her phone was in the fire, after all). In his deranged mind, fire could destroy everything. Long bones in the leg and the pelvic bones would be really obvious, and not destroyed by fire (probably arm bones too).
Both of the body farms that forensic teams use to train have staged burns of bodies for observation, sadly.
That's a scary thought!
