Identified! WI - Houlton, WhtFem 35-60, 406UFWI, wide-set eyes, edentulous, Oct'02 Alyce Peterson

[ninetimesfifteen]

Normally they would not, just saw the skull open. But at times I guess they would delegate the autopsy of the brain to another staff member or the xray/mri department - that is usually done of course with the whole body. But I can see how a very neglectful department would sever the head so that both autopsies can be done the same time.
There is also a possibility of intoxication or necrophily of a hospital or crematorium worker that took the head „for fun“ and dumped it afterwards.
I hope they find out where that happened.

jmoo

Why would they mess with the head in case of aortic aneurysm? That's in the chest.

 

[iamshadow21]

Why would they mess with the head in case of aortic aneurysm? That's in the chest.

They wouldn't.

I think this case is far more likely to be linked to the illicit trade in human remains.

MOO

 

[pokerowan]

Dear lord, the stillborn story is unthinkable. I can't imagine being that careless with somebody else's child. The home was responsible for them during this chapter of their time on earth and completely dropped the ball - I hope there will be harsh repercussions for mishandling Alyce Peterson's remains too. What an unnecessary heartbreak for all involved.

 

[The4TierBridge]

Adding the NamUs ID to make this thread easier to search for in the future.

(UP9106) (#UP9106) (9106)

 

[Friday Fan]

Normally they would not, just saw the skull open. But at times I guess they would delegate the autopsy of the brain to another staff member or the xray/mri department - that is usually done of course with the whole body. But I can see how a very neglectful department would sever the head so that both autopsies can be done the same time.
There is also a possibility of intoxication or necrophily of a hospital or crematorium worker that took the head „for fun“ and dumped it afterwards.
I hope they find out where that happened.

jmoo

Grave robbers? They still exist! (Or in this case, autopsy robbers or crematorium robbers ) Maybe they thought they could make a few bucks from a skull or use it in pranks, but then realized they probably wouldn't. Probably didn't know what to do with the skull, so they dumped it.

We had a grave robber incident here recently.

 

[Goecke]

I'm reminded of the Jane Doe whose embalmed head was found in Pennsylvania a while back.

I'm glad Alyce has her name back, and I'm keeping her family in my thoughts.

 

[djanga]

Now that Alyce has been identified, I was thinking about another DDP case where someone found severed foot and a head — Bone Lake Jane Doe (1993), who was found in Minnesota in 1993.

Bone Lake Jane Doe 1993 | DNA Doe Project

dnadoeproject.org

 

[djanga]

Lt. Michael Hoemke of the Maplewood Police Department told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that while the case is still under investigation, there is not currently any evidence of anything malicious.

Forest Lawn Cemetery cooperated with investigators and provided the requested documents, court documents show.

Hoemke added that Peterson’s family was provided with ashes, but later spread them, making it impossible to know whether the ashes belonged to her or not.

Authorities investigating how the skull of a woman supposedly cremated in Maplewood ended up in St. Croix County

Law enforcement is investigating how the skull of a woman who died and was cremated in Maplewood in 2001 was found in 2002.

kstp.com

 

[summergirl1]

Hopefully they find out why this happened. Without genetic genealogy it would never have been solved.

 

[Melt71]

Why would they mess with the head in case of aortic aneurysm? That's in the chest.

My father died of an aortic aneurysm and they still autopsied his brain; as he died outside a hospital we were told they had to rule out co-morbidities that might explain the cause of his heart issues, and to ensure there were no other major coincidental health issues in play at the time of death.

 

[iamshadow21]

My father died of an aortic aneurysm and they still autopsied his brain; as he died outside a hospital we were told they had to rule out co-morbidities that might explain the cause of his heart issues, and to ensure there were no other major coincidental health issues in play at the time of death.

But they wouldn't decapitate someone to check. They would do a standard asymmetrical cut around the skull to open it, leaving the head attached to the body.

MOO

 

[Tricia]

One of the perks of becoming a Guardian is happening this Saturday, August 16th, from Noon to 8 PM Eastern, when we will have our Zoom call with the mods and the Guardians. It is a blast. You never know what will happen on an 8-hour call.
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PS. Please don't discuss on this thread. CLICK HERE and post any questions.

 

[Richard]

Boy Scouts found skull in bag in 2002, WI cops say. DNA revelation is baffling​

LINK:

MSN

 

[Melt71]

But they wouldn't decapitate someone to check. They would do a standard asymmetrical cut around the skull to open it, leaving the head attached to the body.

MOO

True. And I should have included the question I was responding to, which was 'why would they mess with the head... when the aortic ... is in the chest'. I was just pointing out that despite the major event occurring in the check, they do still check the head.

Separately, after listening to the Head Number 7 podcast I'm getting cremated. I have no desire for my random bits to show up as an ashtray or a medical specimen.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The mistake with the stillborn babies is unforgivable and so is this case.

You know the person cremating her would have realized her head was missing, right? So they would have either been responsible for that or complicit in covering it up...right?

 

[iamshadow21]

True. And I should have included the question I was responding to, which was 'why would they mess with the head... when the aortic ... is in the chest'. I was just pointing out that despite the major event occurring in the check, they do still check the head.

Separately, after listening to the Head Number 7 podcast I'm getting cremated. I have no desire for my random bits to show up as an ashtray or a medical specimen.

Not to make you fret about it, but she was meant to have been cremated. Her family was given ashes, which they spread thinking were hers.

At least her head was not cremated, which means some or all of the ashes they received weren't what they thought they were, since some or all of her body was not in what they received. I strongly suspect that she was illegally used as part of the illicit traffic in human remains. Cremated remains are easy pickings for a body trader. You give someone an urn, how are they to know it's not containing what you promised it would be?

At the very least, it's fraud, compounded by mistreatment of human remains, which would be covered by some kind of variant of local law. Here's an example from my part of the world. CRIMINAL CODE 1899 - SECT 236 Misconduct with regard to corpses

MOO

 

[Susikatze]

Not to make you fret about it, but she was meant to have been cremated. Her family was given ashes, which they spread thinking were hers.

At least her head was not cremated, which means some or all of the ashes they received weren't what they thought they were, since some or all of her body was not in what they received. I strongly suspect that she was illegally used as part of the illicit traffic in human remains. Cremated remains are easy pickings for a body trader. You give someone an urn, how are they to know it's not containing what you promised it would be?

At the very least, it's fraud, compounded by mistreatment of human remains, which would be covered by some kind of variant of local law. Here's an example from my part of the world. CRIMINAL CODE 1899 - SECT 236 Misconduct with regard to corpses

MOO

Yup. I have a relative who is clergy. When he had to attend a cremation burial he asked the crematorium worker whether it is really the ashes of the person it was supposed to be. The worker said: “to be honest, partially they are”. So yeah, seems standard that some remains are mixed in with the cremains of the person before.
I also do not think the crematorium checks the remains before cremation, they get a cremation coffin and burn whatever is inside. But maybe in the US with often open casket visitations etc they do check.
But I believe the head must have gotten lost in the hospital or on the way to the crematorium

jmoo

 

[PinkButtercup]

Not to make you fret about it, but she was meant to have been cremated. Her family was given ashes, which they spread thinking were hers.

At least her head was not cremated, which means some or all of the ashes they received weren't what they thought they were, since some or all of her body was not in what they received. I strongly suspect that she was illegally used as part of the illicit traffic in human remains. Cremated remains are easy pickings for a body trader. You give someone an urn, how are they to know it's not containing what you promised it would be?

At the very least, it's fraud, compounded by mistreatment of human remains, which would be covered by some kind of variant of local law. Here's an example from my part of the world. CRIMINAL CODE 1899 - SECT 236 Misconduct with regard to corpses

MOO

It reminds me of a case which is currently going through the courts in the UK. The funeral home directors have been charged with giving ashes to families which did not belong to their loved ones, as well as other crimes.

Hull funeral home inquiry

 

[summergirl1]

This current case has little to do with what might have happened to this lady's remains, but if you read the details about a 2022 Colorado case where a mother-daughter team of funeral directors sold body parts etc for research instead of cremating them, and then gave family members fake or partially fake ashes, perhaps that is more relevant. Or perhaps not.

Elected coroner busted with 24 decomposed corpses at his funeral home

 

[summergirl1]

This is an interesting article about the illegal selling of supposedly cremated body parts in one case a few years ago in Colorado. Yet this lady's head certainly wasn't sold; so what did happen? This kind of stuff seems like the 21st century version of 19th century grave robbers..

Ex-Colorado funeral home owner gets 20-year sentence for selling body parts

Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch defrauded distraught families and dismembered bodies for illegal sale

www.theguardian.com