UNSOLVED FL - Bradenton, police station, skull from 1974 in box, Jan'11

CarlK90245

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Mystery surrounds skull found in box at Florida police station

The skull was discovered carefully wrapped in old newspaper in a box with the word “Skull” in caps underlined twice along with an FBI lab invoice.

The invoice read, “Examination of portion of human skull discovered in four inches of water near Bradenton on Sept. 28, 1974.”

...

Following their hunch that the skull is from a missing person, the pair got clippings from old copies of the Herald and found about a dozen missing residents and missing tourists.

A promising lead, they think, is a man named Richard Cavenough who left on a Braden River fishing trip in 1971 and was never found, although his overturned boat was discovered.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/12/106682/mystery-surrounds-skull-found.html#ixzz1BH6Mhy1B

Here's another article:

Human skull from 1974 found in police evidence closet

http://www.baynews9.com/article/new...ull-from-1974-found-in-police-evidence-closet
 
Thanks for posting this, Carl. I found this archived story from the Oct. 2, 1974 edition of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. It contains many of the details that Bradenton LE is looking for, namely, where the skull was found, and that there was indeed a man who wandered from a local nursing home nine years before and was never found:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&dq=bradenton 1974 skull&pg=4938,407272

I emailed a link to the article to the Braden PD on January 12th and called to make sure I'd used the correct email address, but the articles published after that date don't make it sound like they know about the article.

Article: "Tips Now Coming In On Skull"

http://www.bradenton.com/2011/01/14/2875620/tips-now-coming-in-on-skull.html

I'm suspecting the FBI was unable to identify the skull and there were no dental records for the missing nursing home resident so LE, without DNA at their disposal, had to shelf the skull. If that man is still missing, he's not listed in any of the databases and he certainly should be.
 
... I'm suspecting the FBI was unable to identify the skull and there were no dental records for the missing nursing home resident ...

Even if there were dental records, they only have the upper portion of the skull, including only the upper portion of the eye sockets.

They should be able to tell from the shape of the brow and forehead, and from the cranial sutures whether the skull was from a male or female, and whether the person was elderly.
 
If that pic is the skull in question, it sure looks small in comparison to the hands displaying it. More like a child's skull, or a small woman
 
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2012/8/16/skull_in_police_evid.static

A skull that was found sitting in Bradenton Police evidence since September 1974 may be over 100 years old.
[...]
Nothing has turned up to connect it to any cases, but the police department announced Thursday that University of Florida researchers said the skull may be that of a Native American who lived a century ago.

Not much is known about the skull. The lower half is missing and there are no signs of trauma, which led investigators to believe the case was not a homicide. The gender and age of the person it belonged to are also not known.
 
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2012/8/16/skull_in_police_evid.static

A skull that was found sitting in Bradenton Police evidence since September 1974 may be over 100 years old.
[...]
Nothing has turned up to connect it to any cases, but the police department announced Thursday that University of Florida researchers said the skull may be that of a Native American who lived a century ago.

Not much is known about the skull. The lower half is missing and there are no signs of trauma, which led investigators to believe the case was not a homicide. The gender and age of the person it belonged to are also not known.
The link is no longer working. Any way to get a clip of it from newspapers .com or from having a subscription?

I don’t see any update on the carbon dating process.

From the other article at the Sun Sentinel:
“Investigators now plan to send the lower half of the skull with no teeth to a Florida Department of Enforcement lab for carbon dating, reports the Herald.“

Mystery skull from 1974 found in police evidence room
 
If that pic is the skull in question, it sure looks small in comparison to the hands displaying it. More like a child's skull, or a small woman
Yeah that is small or it’s an optical illusion from the camera.
 

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