UnId'd remains found 03/22/07 - Augusta, GA

[all4tara]

http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/6676857.html

March 23, 2007

AUGUSTA, Ga.---Deputies in Richmond County are still trying to solve a mystery after finding human bones in the woods off of Laney Walker Boulevard last night.

Another similar account: http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/local/6673042.html

[Kym1968]

Any updates? I couldn't find any.
I wonder if the remains are of any of these missing people in Richmond County?
www.augustaga.gov/departments/sheriffs_office/missing.asp -

[all4tara]

Augusta Chronicle reports:

Tests show remains are from white woman

Preliminary findings for the skeletal remains found in a wooded area near Lovers Lane show that the person was a white female between 25 and 40 years old when she died, a Richmond County sheriff's news release said.

The woman was most likely in her 30s and the crime lab found no sign of trauma, the release said.

Officials at the Georgia Crime Lab in Atlanta will continue to examine the remains and release an anthropological report at a later time.

[MaGruff31]

I apologize as I am not familiar with the GA area but does anyone think of Tara Grinstead?? Just a thought..I just wasnt sure the distance between where she went missing in relation to where this body was found...

[all4tara]

Anytime a female body is found in Georgia, I wonder about Tara. We are following this one to see if anything specific is released. Ocilla and Augusta are roughly 200 miles apart though.

I apologize as I am not familiar with the GA area but does anyone think of Tara Grinstead?? Just a thought..I just wasnt sure the distance between where she went missing in relation to where this body was found...

[englishleigh]

Anytime a female body is found in Georgia, I wonder about Tara. We are following this one to see if anything specific is released. Ocilla and Augusta are roughly 200 miles apart though.


Tara could have been taken anywhere, though. What other white women in Tara's age range are missing from GA?

[Kym1968]

I thought of Tara right away too. Hopefully we will hear more info soon! I couldn't find anything new this morning.

[concernedperson]

Tara could have been taken anywhere, though. What other white women in Tara's age range are missing from GA?

I found this small article that was slightly different than the others. It says the woman is small and they have some clothing items. This could go a long way in identifying the remains. The only person in Georgia I can think of is Tara Grinstead but it could be anyone from many areas dumped in Augusta.


http://www.wjbf.com/midatlantic/jbf/news_index.apx.-content-articles-JBF-2007-03-23-0002.html

[Trino]

Any more information on this unidentified woman?

[concernedperson]

Any more information on this unidentified woman?
No, I have emailed the reporter and he hasn't responded. I check 10 times a day for a news report but nothing. Don't worry whenever any of my sources comes through I will post.

[s_finch]

Laney-Walker runs through the seedy parts of town and by lots of train tracks. I'm not sure where Lover's Lane is, anyone know? Is it near the Savannah River section?

Edited to add: I've looked up Lover's Lane. There are two roads with that name but only one is a dead end. It's just across the Savannah River from SC, with the closest SC town being Beach Island.

Since they said the woman was so small, any chance she could be Dail Dinwiddie from Columbia, SC? How long did they say they think the body has been there? Dail disappeared from 5 points in Columbia in 1992 after a U2 concert. By interstate, Augusta, GA and Columbia, SC are about 1 hour apart.
http://www.kristenfoundation.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=hw&report=sp&ID=027

Date of Birth: April 12, 1969
Date Missing: September 24, 1992
From City/State: Columbia, SC
Age at Time of Disapperance: 23
Gender: Female
Race: White
Height: 60 inches
Weight: 96 pounds
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Medium
Identifying Characteristics: Pierced ears.
Clothing: Olive green long sleeve shirt, faded blue jeans, brown boots.
Circumstances of Disappearance: Unknown.
Investigative Agency: Columbia Police Department
Phone: (803) 233-8474
Investigative Case #: 92-31749

[Masterj]

Dail was the reason I found websleuths. I have been haunted by her face since I saw her missing person fliers in 1992 in SC when I was looking at colleges.

[s_finch]

Dail is also the main reason I came to websleuths. So beautiful and smart---disappeared without a trace. I've wondered about the bouncer's testimony, if he was ever given a lie detector test.

[concernedperson]

The 1999 disapearance of Paula Merchant of Forest Acres, South Carolina is very similar. She was little taller but similar in looks. That Rivera guy is a poi in both cases.

The remains were skeletal so it will probably be awhile before the id is known. I check everyday to see if there is anything new.

[concernedperson]

Thank you Concernedperson. Yes, Paula Merchant's case was similar and Rivera is on death row in Georgia, isn't he? He claims to have no knowledge of Dinwiddie and Merchant from what I can remember but he was living in Columbia when Dail disappeared.

This UNID female could be a SC person. For those of you not familiar with the geography, SC is just across the Savannah River from where the body was found. Seems to me that whoever dumped the body there knew/knows the area pretty well. It's not a road (now that I've looked it up on Mapquest I realize I've passed it a hundred times going from SC to MCG) you would just happen to stumble across looking for a place to hide a body. It's a perfect place to hide a body. And I would wonder if the body hasn't been seen before these people reported it. The transients and others who are common to that area aren't exactly the kind who want contact with LE.

Wonder if there's anyway we can get an inside scoop on the clothing found, state of decay of the skeleton, etc...

I agree about the body being seen before and transients wouldn't report it. The remains were sent to the GBI Lab in Atlanta. I, at one point thought it was Tara Grinstead due to the description but it fits Dail and Paula and a known murderer was operating in the area. So the only reason for the delay could be no DNA matches or they are collecting evidence for prosecution.

[s_finch]

The more I read about Rivera and his methods I don't think he is the culprit in Dail's case. In years after she went missing, he was soliciting girls by offering to pay them for pictures-he wasn't grabbing them off the street. From what I've read about serial murderers/rapists/etc.. they progress in the opposite direction. In other words he wouldn't have gone from grabbing Dail to then offering to pay girls. And I'm sure from what I've read about Dail and her family, she wouldn't have one minute fallen for "Hey you look like a model, can I take pictures of you", especially not alone at 5 points in Columbia middle of the night.

A friend of mine works at a local paper and I've got him asking around at the Augusta Chronicle. I'll let you know if I found out anything. Sure would like to know what clothing remains they found.

[englishleigh]

I just have a gut feeling that this is Dail. I hope so. I don't want her to be dead but her family needs answers, it's been 15 years.

She was such a cute, cute girl. :(

[all4tara]

I was online looking at different sites this morning and saw that John Couey was arrested in Augusta, GA in March 2005. I doubt he is related to this thread's subject but it alarmed me nonetheless.

[LionRun]

According the the article at http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/6676857.html

"Right now the body appears to be fully intact," Sgt. Roundtree said. "We have a large portion of it."

From the above statement I do not know if the Sgt. meant that the skeleton was found with bones still connected as a unit aka articulated? Or, did he mean that much of the skeleton was found, albeit the bones were dis-articulated; but, much of the individual bones were intact. If the skeleton was found with most bones still connected aka articulated, then the TOD may be closer to less than 4 months prior to being discovered.

If instead the bones were not connected when found, but some were individually, in good condition or intact, then the TOD would have a wider time range. Here is a site to explain lots about skeletal remains, including TOD.

http://www.anthro4n6.net/forensics/

Lion

[concernedperson]

According the the article at http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/6676857.html

"Right now the body appears to be fully intact," Sgt. Roundtree said. "We have a large portion of it."

From the above statement I do not know if the Sgt. meant that the skeleton was found with bones still connected as a unit aka articulated? Or, did he mean that much of the skeleton was found, albeit the bones were dis-articulated; but, much of the individual bones were intact. If the skeleton was found with most bones still connected aka articulated, then the TOD may be closer to less than 4 months prior to being discovered.

If instead the bones were not connected when found, but some were individually, in good condition or intact, then the TOD would have a wider time range. Here is a site to explain lots about skeletal remains, including TOD.

http://www.anthro4n6.net/forensics/

Lion

Thanks, Lion, for the article. It was very informative and I wish we could keep it as a sticky somewhere. Finch mentioned that articles of clothing were found. We don't know what kind yet but if you look at the chart provided than TOD would have to be less than 35 months.Cotton or leather are the hardiest of materials when a body is on the surface vs. buried. So, if this chart is accurate the remains have been there a maximum of 35 months but less is more likely.

[s_finch]

Thanks LR for the link. In several of the newspaper articles they refer to "skeletal remains", "bones" and "the body appears to be fully intact, ,,,we have a large portion of it" ----- so from the info in Lion's Run's TOD post, sounds like this body hasn't been there for years and years. Possibly articulated as LR speculated. We had some very warm days in February and in March and April it's been up in the 80's many days so with that weather a body would decay rapidly no doubt.

When I hear of a body/skeleton being found, I always wonder if it was previously stored, like in a freezer, and then dumped at a convenient time. I read too much about crime.

I do hope this body will be identified and given a proper burial. It's so sad when a body goes unidentified.

[Elphaba]

I'm from the CSRA (born in Augusta, raised on the SC side of the Savannah Rvr... left 6+ years ago)... when I first heard about it, they didn't say if it was an adult that they had found... just bones. With it being Laney Walker, my first thought was that maybe it was a girl named Tiffany that went missing from that area quite a many years back. But, she was a child, so that can be ruled out now that it is stated as being a white woman.

I think at this point, if it was someone missing from the CSRA, they would have probably already made an ID, or at least reported on the possibility that it was a resident of the area. Hopefully they will find an answer, soon... somewhere out in this world is a family searching for this person.

[s_finch]

I wonder how long it would take them to identify the remains even if it is a missing person from the CSRA. If it is an articulated skeleton they can use dental records, dna, perhaps jewelry. The article said some clothing was found.

The article also said they were searching for any other "bones" which makes me wonder if they think it could be a dumping ground. They haven't found anymore apparently but there's lot's of places in that area to dump bodies, not to mention the Savannah River which is really fast and treacherous. No one swims in that river.

Excuse my ramblings, but knowing this area, I know that it is not a predominantly caucasian section, there are quite a few factories along the river there, the train tracks run through there. Lots of drug activity in the area. NOT a place you'd ever want your car to break down in, day or night, but it is highly traveled by folks coming into Augusta from SC, especially if they are heading to the hospital district, the bypass or the farmers market. I have't heard of any workers missing from the factories/plants in the area.

[englishleigh]

Bumping this up....any new info on this?

[christine2448]

Bumping this up....any new info on this?


I can't find anything :( Still searching.

Latest update I am finding is 3/27

An update from the Richmond County Sheriff's Office Tuesday on those skeletal remains found in Augusta. According to investigators, they belong to a woman likely in her thirties.

There were no signs of trauma. The Crime Lab will continue to investigate and a formal anthropological report is forthcoming.

[concernedperson]

I was talking to a friend about this. Does anyone think the delay could be because of an ongoing murder investigation? Or, is identity the more likely problem?

[s_finch]

I passed by this road yesterday. There wasn't much traffic on Laney-Walker so I was able to go slow and look down Lover's Lane. It's a short road for sure, and I could see a stationary train at the very end where the train tracks are. Now if I could see the train cars from the west bound lane of Laney-Walker (which means I was looking across the east bound lanes and then down Lover's Lane) then you know it's a short road and not much distance at all from the end of the paved road to the train tracks. In fact I was surprised at how easy it was to see the train cars. True there is lots of low growing vegetation but it couldn't have been very hard to spot a body and definitely not hard to smell one with all the warm weather we've had since February. I believe as I said earlier, this body was found by others before it was ever reported--they just didn't want to get involved. I also paid more attention to the surrounding area and like I posted before, it's "seedy". While on one side of Lover's Lane there are some decent looking factories, the rest of the area is overgrown, lots of abandoned buildings, the residential section doesn't start for a few miles and even it's a pretty rough area--you know it is when you see all the homes and businesses that have metal gates on their windows and doors!

[christine2448]

I passed by this road yesterday. There wasn't much traffic on Laney-Walker so I was able to go slow and look down Lover's Lane. It's a short road for sure, and I could see a stationary train at the very end where the train tracks are. Now if I could see the train cars from the west bound lane of Laney-Walker (which means I was looking across the east bound lanes and then down Lover's Lane) then you know it's a short road and not much distance at all from the end of the paved road to the train tracks. In fact I was surprised at how easy it was to see the train cars. True there is lots of low growing vegetation but it couldn't have been very hard to spot a body and definitely not hard to smell one with all the warm weather we've had since February. I believe as I said earlier, this body was found by others before it was ever reported--they just didn't want to get involved. I also paid more attention to the surrounding area and like I posted before, it's "seedy". While on one side of Lover's Lane there are some decent looking factories, the rest of the area is overgrown, lots of abandoned buildings, the residential section doesn't start for a few miles and even it's a pretty rough area--you know it is when you see all the homes and businesses that have metal gates on their windows and doors!

Thanks for taking the time to physically check this out and then post details. :)

[s_finch]

I was talking to a friend about this. Does anyone think the delay could be because of an ongoing murder investigation? Or, is identity the more likely problem?

I've wondered about this. You would think they would have released some more details, like clothing.

[s_finch]

Bumping, have there been no more details?

[concernedperson]

Bumping, have there been no more details?


I check from time to time and no news releases that I have been able to find.

[Elphaba]

I was just down in that area a few weeks ago and I asked my mom if anything was said about it and she and my dad said it was in the paper one day and then nothing else was said about it. :(

[christine2448]

bump, anyone heard anything? I have been 'watchin', nothing.

[raine1212]

Bumping, any news yet.

[raine1212]

Newest info I found. Reported by www.wrdw.com (http://www.wrdw.com)

Richmond County investigators still need your help identifying another skeleton discovered earlier this year. Deputies found the remains of a white female off of Laney Walker Boulevard, near Lovers Lane in March. Homicide investigator Tom Johnson tells News 12, the woman could be anywhere from 25-years-old to 40. But investigators believe she was in her 30's when she died. There were no obvious signs of trauma to the skeleton. The remains were ruled not to be those of Deborah Dill. Anyone with any information is asked to call the sheriff's office (http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/11144561.html#).

[concernedperson]

Newest info I found. Reported by www.wrdw.com (http://www.wrdw.com)

Richmond County investigators still need your help identifying another skeleton discovered earlier this year. Deputies found the remains of a white female off of Laney Walker Boulevard, near Lovers Lane in March. Homicide investigator Tom Johnson tells News 12, the woman could be anywhere from 25-years-old to 40. But investigators believe she was in her 30's when she died. There were no obvious signs of trauma to the skeleton. The remains were ruled not to be those of Deborah Dill. Anyone with any information is asked to call the sheriff's office (http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/11144561.html#).Thank you so much for the article as it has puzzled me when there were no news reports. So, they have not been able to identify the remains. If a reconstructive sketch could be done that would aid greatly in helping the public identify the remains. 2 sets of skeletal remains in the area is worrisome especially with families out there wondering where their loved ones are.

[s_finch]

Lisa Shuttleworth has yet to be found and Beach Island is just across the river to where this skeleton was found. Driving time, you could be from one place to the other in 5 minutes. A friend of mine is a close friend of Lisa's mom and I know they have been wondering if it is her. Lisa has/had two children, I believe, and her mom is still living so they could do a dna match couldn't they?

http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200604670S

[concernedperson]

Lisa Shuttleworth has yet to be found and Beach Island is just across the river to where this skeleton was found. Driving time, you could be from one place to the other in 5 minutes. A friend of mine is a close friend of Lisa's mom and I know they have been wondering if it is her. Lisa has/had two children, I believe, and her mom is still living so they could do a dna match couldn't they?

http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200604670S


I would be sure the sheriff's office is called and at least remind them that this could be Lisa.

[Julespa]

Bumping

Any news on this case? I tried doing a search but not being from the area I didn't really know where all to look.

[raine1212]

I am from the area, and no news thats I can find.

[future criminologist]

When I hear of a body/skeleton being found, I always wonder if it was previously stored, like in a freezer, and then dumped at a convenient time. I read too much about crime.

hmmm this got me thinking...can an autopsy reveal if a body was placed in a frozen environment post-mortem?

also...we have a TOD at anywhere between 4 mos. and 35 mos, taken from the posts on this one so far, whether the bones are connected or not. can we confirm this is as a relatively reliable timeframe to start searching thru MP cases? That would mean April 2004 - December 2006 is a probable timeframe in which she went missing.

[future criminologist]

I checked NAMPN and I can't find a corresponding UID listing for that date in Georgia, so I'm wondering if maybe she's already been ID'd.