Unidentified Skeletal Remains of 8 Men

[Salem]

I don't know if there is a thread already on this. If so, please merge or tell me how?

Also, this is the first link I have posted, so I hope it works. It seems much longer than the links others have posted.

This is out of Florida. Police originally found 3 skeletons, and then found 5 more within 50 meters of the first 3. They are not saying how the deaths occurred.

I'll go get a ~snip~

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/mystery-shrouds-remains-found-in-woods/20070609025809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Salem

[Salem]

~snip~ FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 9) - The skeletal remains of eight people discovered in March were all white men between ages 18 and 49, but who they were and how they ended up in a remote wooded area remain a mystery, officials said.

"We have a lot of theories right now. We have not ruled out a funeral home having dumped these bodies, and we have not ruled out a serial killer. After we identify these people we'll have a better idea," Police Chief Hilton Daniels said Friday.


Salem

[hoppyfrog]

Yes, there is already a thread here:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48160

[SewingDeb]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20236967/

Identificiation the key
Most frustrating for police is that they have not yet been able to identify any of the eight victims. Investigators believe once they learn the name of just one person the case will accelerate.

"We've got to figure out who these people were before we can move forward," said Soto. "Were they all connected? Did these eight people know each other, or were they simply random people who had no interlinkings?"

At the medical examiner's office, Walsh-Haney, the forensic anthropologist, analyzed the skeletal remains in order to come up with the sex and estimated ages of the victims.

From the bones, experts are now gathering DNA samples, while other specialists are measuring the skulls in order to build models that attempt to replicate the victims' faces.

"What that first identification will do for us in terms of the investigation is give us a name," Walsh-Haney said. "With that name come family members and friends who may have known where this individual was when he was last seen."

Police are asking the public for help, and are urging anyone with a missing relative who matches the descriptions and time frame of the case to contact them. They may be asked to give a cheek DNA swab.