No positive identification or cause of death have been determined for the remains that were found just off Samuel Harris Lane in Chatham by a surveyor on May 18, said investigator Shannon Edwards of the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.
Edwards said that the remains have been sent to Roanoke for an autopsy, but no cause of death has been determined nor has a positive identification been made because the medical examiner is waiting on DNA from family. In order to identify the victim, Edwards said the medical examiner is going to extract mitochondrial DNA from the victim’s bones to compare it to a cheek swap taken from a family member.
One of the biggest challenges with a case like this, Edwards said, is trying to locate a family member. Investigators were able to do so because of evidence they collected that led them to a family member. Another challenge with this case, Edwards said, is not having a crime scene or knowing what the body was exposed to.
“The biggest problem is not knowing where the crime occurred, what the weather was, if there were animals around or how nature affected the crime scene,” Edwards said. “We don’t really know what we’re working with.”
Because investigators are still waiting on a cause of death, they have not formulated a list of suspects because they are not sure if it is necessary. Edwards said that it is an ongoing investigation, and until the autopsy results come back, they are treating it as a death.
