FL FL - Palm City, Martin County- Male, Uncertain- Bones in shoebox near clandestine grave- UP11621- Jan 25, 1975

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The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Circumstances of Recovery- Bones found in shoebox near clandestine grave.

 

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REPORT OF OSTEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION

ID. LAB CASE NUMBER: 4C09 ME CASE NUMBER: District 19; 75-243​

MARTIN CO. No: 6426-D

DATE AND MODE OF RECEIPT OF REMAINS: The remains were examined on 3 April 2009 at the District 19 Office of the Medical Examiner in Ft. Pierce, Florida. The examination was requested by Dr. Mittleman, with Lt. Silvas of the Martin County Sheriff's Office in attendance. These remains were discovered in 1975 near the location where several other clandestine gravesites yielding remains were found during that same period. The other remains were identified as victims of Gerald John Schaefer, who was imprisoned in 1973 for murders he committed as a police officer. These remains were taken by Martin County Sheriff's Office to the Miami-Dade Office of the Medical Examiner in 1975, and are now being stored at the District 19 Office of the Medical Examiner in Ft. Pierce. Martin Cty Sheriff's Office.

All remains were retained at the District 19 Office of the Medical Examiner in Ft. Pierce.Martin Cty Sheriff's Office with the exception of a fragment of the right zygomatic. This fragment has a possible sharpforce defect and was returned to this laboratory for further examination.

CONDITION OF REMAINS: The remains have apparently been stored at the Miami-Dade Office of the Medical Examiner since their discovery and initial examination. All of the bones are fully skeletonized, dry, and without the odor of decomposition. The bones are weathered and soil-stained with consistent taphonomy among all elements.

NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS: There is no duplication of elements. The anatomical relationship between the recovered bones (e.g., three right metacarpals and two right carpals) suggests that the remains represent a single individual. The complete inventory of recovered elements is:

One bag containing a hair mass

Corpus sterni

One left rib (3-9)

Right radius

Right 3rd metacarpal

Right 4th metacarpal

Right 5th metacarpal

Proximal phalanges (4)

Intermediate phalanges (2)

Distal phalange

Right hamate

Right triquetral

Left zygomatic fragment

Ossified xiphoid cartilage

AGE AT DEATH: The epiphyses of the radius, metacarpals, and phalanges are fused. The ossified xiphoid cartilage suggests an individual of advanced age. No relevant literature addresses the timing of ossification of the xiphoid, however, analogous studies of the thyroid cartilage shov,, that complete ossification usually does not occur until after the age of 60 years in males (Cerny', 1983).

SEX: The radius is relatively robust and yields a stature (67 inches) that is closer to average male height than female height (Gordon et al.,1989; male average stature is 69.13"; female average stature is 64.15"). The hamate and triquetral are quite large and suggest the larger male hand and wrist. The presence of a Boxer's fracture of the right 4th metacarpal (see below) is significant in that Brickley and Smith (2006) found that these fractures occur up to 15 times more frequently in males than females.

ANCESTRY: Ancestry cannot be morphologically determined from the remains recovered.





STATURE: Estimated stature based on a maximum length of the radius (246 mm.) is 67.0" +/ - 4.4" (95% interval from 62.6 to 71.4 inches). This estimate is based on the pooled-ancestry reference sample of the Forensic Data Bank since ancestry is unknown for this decedent.



INDIVIDUALIZING CHARACTERS: See antemortem trauma below.



ANTEMORTEM TRAUMA OR DISEASE: There is a healed Boxer's fracture of the right 4th metacarpal at the proximal 1/ 3 of the shaft.

PERIMORTEM TRAUMA OR DISEASE: There are two small lesions to the left zygomatic bone. One is found at the margin of the zygomatico-maxillary suture, between the middle and lower 1 / 3 of the suture. The other is located near jugale on the superior border of the temporal process of the zygomatic. No density is noted radiographically.



These lesions are, obviously, within 2.5 cm. from each other. The orientation of the marks does not align, but they lie on approximately the same plane. No striae arP noted and the floor of the cutrnarks is squared off and consists partially of smooth, depressed cortical bone, ruling out a saw as the tool.



Possible tools include the blunt end of a knife blade.



POSTMORTEM DAMAGE: The bones are weathered and soil stained, with no evidence of scavenging.



SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS: The remains are those of a male who was greater than 60 years of age and 67.0" +/- 4.4" tall at the time of his death. No reliable determination of ancestry is possible from the skeletal elements available for analysis. The decedent has a healed Boxer's fracture of the right 4th metacarpal. There is evidence of a patterned/ sharpforce injury to the left side of the face in the zygomatic bone. The defects in the bone were not caused by the sharp edge of a knife or other instrument, but may have been caused by the blunt end of a knife. Absence of adjacent facial bones precludes determination of tool or blade characteristics.

 

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