http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=2168888
Published Friday
May 12, 2006
Two sets of remains discovered
BY KRISTIN ZAGURSKI
AND TOM SHAW
WORLD-HERALD
STAFF WRITERS
Two sets of human remains have been found in the Omaha metropolitan area, one north of Council Bluffs and the other in a northeast Omaha park, police announced today.
In the Bluffs-area discovery, which was made last week, authorities have ruled out that the remains were either of two local missing females - Tracy Tribble, 35, of Council Bluffs, or Amber Harris, 12, of Omaha.
No specifics had been released about the remains found Thursday night in Hummel Park.
Last Saturday, mushroom hunters found human remains in a 55-gallon barrel. The barrel was found on land north of the Pottawattamie County Jail in an area that authorities believe had been under water but is now dry.
Because of the decomposition of the body, investigators called in a forensic anthropologist. The remains are believed to be that of a woman, age 24 to 32. She was about 5 feet 8 inches tall.
The woman had short, straight, brown hair, authorities said. The woman was wearing size 11 Lee jeans that possibly have a greenish tint, a turquoise and white sweater and knee-high socks. The jeans had a well-preserved tag, so investigators hope to get a date for when they were made and the area where they were sold.
The woman probably was white but may have had some black ancestry as well, authorities said. The woman may have had a physically active job or exercised regularly, authorities said.
Officials said they aren't aware of any missing woman from the Pottawattamie County area whose description matches the characteristics of the remains.
The date of the woman's death is unknown, but because of the condition of the remains and the barrel, officials say the body had been in the barrel for years.
Investigators say they believe they know how the woman died but are not releasing that information.
"There is no doubt we're dealing with a homicide investigation," said Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber.
Omaha police released few details about the other set of remains, found about 8:45 p.m. Thursday at Hummel Park, 11808 John J. Pershing Drive.
Officers still were at the park this morning, investigating "what appears to be human remains," said Officer Andrew Passo, a Police Department spokesman.
Passo declined to release additional information, such as the state of decomposition of the remains, citing the ongoing investigation.
Amber Harris was reported missing the night of Nov. 29. She earlier had called her father from a friend's cell phone to say she was coming home from Beveridge Magnet Center, 1616 S. 120th St., on the school's late bus.
Amber's mother, Melissa Harris, said that Omaha police alerted her early this morning to the discovery in Hummel Park.
Police did not provide her with any more information about the possible identity of the individual.
"I've just been bawling all morning," Harris said. "We've got to be open to the possibility that it could be Amber. We just don't know right now."
Harris also had been alerted to the remains found in Council Bluffs but was relieved to learn today that they were not Amber's.
She said she doesn't recall whether searchers have looked through Hummel Park for her daughter.
Tracy Tribble's husband, Stan, told police he last saw his wife about 6 a.m. May 3 when he left to go to work.
Her purse and keys still were in the couple's house, at 133 Benton St. in the Bluffs. Their dog was found roaming the neighborhood.
Tracy Tribble's family and friends searched Hummel Park on Tuesday. But searches there and in other locations, including near the couple's home, have turned up nothing.