Found Deceased AL - Paighton Houston, 29, left bar with 2 men, Birmingham, 20 Dec 2019 #2

[PeachyMystery]

I would think the toxicology report would then come into play, and tell the tale.
MOO.

If her body didn't have obvious signs of trauma, would that likely cause a hesitation in labeling it a homicide investigation? MOO

 

[KCmetwo]

ok in Mortuary Science...."intact" for a body means: All of the parts are there, nothing has been removed.

I have an example from MSM I'm going to c/p here, it's from a story regarding a Funeral Home, but it should give you the general idea of what "intact" is. Story is out of S.C.

"In Lexington, a funeral director stuffed the organs from one corpse into the body bag of another after cremating the first body without all of its parts intact."

 

[crhedBngr]

Prayers for Paighton, her Family and Friends.

 

[T4Tide]

I am beginning to wonder if Paighton was ever at The Tin Roof. The way LE is wording the information about the two men leaving the Bar with Paighton really makes me pause and think that maybe she wasn't there at all.

Was the friend who reported that Paighton left with the 2 men actually at the Bar? Could the friend/co-worker have gone with Paighton to somewhere entirely different than what was reported and then had to make up a story to cover for herself when things went bad?

I am beginning to wonder???????

MOO

What a good cover up it'd be if someone else sent a text from PH's phone stating she didn't know who she was with, when in reality, it was only to mask that she was with someone she knew very well.

 

[Seattle1]

I

I have to respectfully disagree here unless the rule of identification law is different in the USA to the UK where I am, but I highly doubt it. I have investigated many murders and there MUST always be identification of the body by a member of the family or someone blood related ( unless nobody can be found). LE can still use DNA and we
still to this day, fingerprint dead bodies during autopsy BUT there still has to be formal identification by a family member.
Just FYI and moo

I'm also from UK/Expat and sorry if my post was not clear to convey that next of kin may formally identify the body of their decedent from a photo and not have to view the body in person.

Not to be confused with nobody including next of kin not claiming a body from the morgue.

No One Really Knows What to Do With All of America’s Unclaimed Corpses

 

[Beth11311]

I know you weren't stating that's what happened, I was just asking about the money thing since it was made such a huge thing that her bank acct hadn't been used. Thank you.

No worries, the “need to state again” in my post was for clarity for others, I knew you didn’t think that.

 

[carbuff]

There was a high profile case in the US a few years back where two girls were in a traffic accident. Family misidentified them and they got swapped--I don't remember the details but it was a big scandal at the time and after that medical examiners moved strongly to using less error-prone methods.

 

[Seattle1]

What a good cover up it'd be if someone else sent a text from PH's phone stating she didn't know who she was with, when in reality, it was only to mask that she was with someone she knew very well.

Anything to distance and distract is very common by a perp.

 

[Beth11311]

To our verified LE on here (tagging @Falcon500 cause I can’t remember others off the top of my head) - does LE require a MOD from the coroner before they can classify a case as a homicide?

Or is it okay to classify a case as a homicide investigation without the MOD because it is by name, investigative in nature?

ETA: I can’t believe I don’t know this for certain, considering how many cases I’ve followed etc.

 

[Maya Love]

I think it's possible she left w/ people but the description was fabricated, probably to be the total opposite of the real people. That's why we never saw video from anywhere, or pics. LE knew who she left with.

 

[WildcatRunner]

ok in Mortuary Science...."intact" for a body means: All of the parts are there, nothing has been removed.

I have an example from MSM I'm going to c/p here, it's from a story regarding a Funeral Home, but it should give you the general idea of what "intact" is. Story is out of S.C.

"In Lexington, a funeral director stuffed the organs from one corpse into the body bag of another after cremating the first body without all of its parts intact."

So not to be morbid, but a dismembered body would be "intact" if all the parts were grouped together still?

 

[Maya Love]

To our verified LE on here (tagging @Falcon500 cause I can’t remember others off the top of my head) - does LE require a MOD from the coroner before they can classify a case as a homicide?

Or is it okay to classify a case as a homicide investigation without the MOD because it is by name, investigative in nature?

Yes, ME determines MOD and COD

 

[MassGuy]

I think this is foul play.

If the original narrative is true (I don’t think it is), she left with two men. Her text message indicated that she felt in danger, and it would be too much of a coincidence for her to die of an overdose after that.

In the more likely scenario (as I see it), she was never at the bar in the first place. Whatever happened, happened before her friend even arrived. That text message is a game changer, as it would have been an effort to misdirect.

Had this not been nefarious, and she died from a drug overdose, then I don’t see the need for all the subterfuge. That sort of thing happens quite often, and standard procedure is typically to dump the body on the side of the road or out in the open.

These people just want the body away from them, so they don’t wind up with criminal charges.

The fake text message, and the two big black men story, doesn’t follow the typical pattern. I think it’s a sign of this being a homicide.

It could always be panic, but I’m not a fan.

 

[Seattle1]

There was a high profile case in the US a few years back where two girls were in a traffic accident. Family misidentified them and they got swapped--I don't remember the details but it was a big scandal at the time and after that medical examiners moved strongly to using less error-prone methods.

If I remember correctly -- this was after an in-person formal identification by the family of the believed decedent after a horrific accident involving several girlfriends traveling together. The alive, hospitalized girl was visited and/or under constant vigil by the wrong family. Also featured on Dateline.

 

[303gmf]

This is the scene where a woman’s remains were found wrapped up and buried in a shallow grave.

carol robinson on Twitter

Oh my could it get any worse!! Her poor family

There was a high profile case in the US a few years back where two girls were in a traffic accident. Family misidentified them and they got swapped--I don't remember the details but it was a big scandal at the time and after that medical examiners moved strongly to using less error-prone methods.

I have a vague memory of that one!

 

[MassGuy]

So not to be morbid, but a dismembered body would be "intact" if all the parts were grouped together still?

I definitely don’t think so. I take that to mean that the body was all in one piece.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

Hi is that

the way it works in all USA ? I am genuinely interested as in the UK it MUST be a relative who id’s the deceased and it cannot be solely DNA or NAFIS or a photograph. I am surprised it’s not the case in the USA but I see your title is verified LE so I accept what you say . I am a senior investigative officer and was, prior to medical retirement, of the rank Detective Chief Inspector and was responsible for the leadership of many murder investigations and teams of Detectives so I speak from experience I’m my arena of law in the UK
It often amazes me just how differently we Police and investigate . Hope to hear back from you. Respectfully...

This surprised me. What if there's extensive decomp, or the features are not recognizable?

 

[BlinkOfAnI]

I have to say, I have never seen a more "put together, humble family" as PH family. When my brother died at 24, I literally watched my family fall to pieces. Its also when I became a neurotic mother myself. I had to 2 small children at the time and going through something like that changes a person. Especially when my brother was murdered by his "so called" best friend. Hes doing life in Angola and pray he never sees the light of day.

JMO...I am so sorry for what you went through. I say that from my heart. It's hard to say how any family will survive any loss regardless of how strong they are. This is a part of life that no one knows how to survive because there is nothing to prepare us or tell us what we need to hear. The one area of life with no guidelines that we learn through life. My own family fell apart like yours. I was the strong mother that even my grown children look to and I let them down for years because I was lost myself. It's such a struggle to get through but whether now or later it can get better. This family has shown remarkable strength from the beginning and I hope it continues. I pray they get all the support they need. Not just now but for years. You touched my heart. TY

 

[LietKynes]

Saw the update elsewhere.
I am so sorry, Paighton !!!

Makes me angry to think she may have died alone and in terrible fear and pain.

 

[JamieLogical]

I have been following this case closely since the beginning and I knew a body had been found this afternoon, but the positive identification still hit me like a gut punch. I was truly surprised to find myself sobbing. I feel so badly for her family and I will be keeping them in my thoughts.