Identified! PA - Bedford Co., Skeletal remains in woods, Dec'11 - Audrey Phoenix

BEDFORD — A forensic pathologist from an Erie-based college has been brought in to assist in the investigation of the body of a woman found by hunters in Bedford County, police said Thursday.

The decomposing remains were found in Bedford Township in the area of the Midway Travel Plaza of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

On the scene Thursday was Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic pathologist at Mercyhurst College, Erie, who was excavating the scene.

State police issued a short release saying the skeletal remains were found in a wooded area on Shadyside Drive at 9:34 a.m. Wednesday.

An investigation by state police and Bedford County Coroner Sam Gordon to identify the remains and determine the cause of death has been launched, the release stated.

Bedford station commander Sgt. Robert Johnson said the remains were found in a relatively remote area about a half-mile off the toll road.

Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins, notified by police about the discovery, was unable to say how long the woman has been dead, but that it appears to have been “some time.”

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BEDFORD, Pa. — Skeletal remains of a woman were found Wednesday by hunters in a wooded area of Sunnyside Drive, Pennsylvania State Police said.
An investigation to identify the remains and the cause of death is continuing by state police at Bedford. Assistance was provided at the scene by the Bedford County coroner’s office.
Police said the area will be excavated by a team of forensic archaeologists from Mercyhurst College under the direction of Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat.
The discovery was made at about 9:30 a.m. in the Sunnyside Road and Midway Plaza area of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, police said

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BEDFORD — An autopsy was conducted Friday on human remains found near the Midway Travel Plaza of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bedford County.

Police are remaining tight-lipped about details of the discovery made by hunters Wednesday, providing no further information regarding identity or cause of death.

The autopsy was performed at Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown.

Authorities have indicated they believed the body to be that of a woman, but no gender confirmation could be made.

Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist at Mercyhurst College in Erie, said Friday he was not in a position to discuss details.

Dirkmaat spent much of Thursday excavating the Bedford Township site. He was joined by 14 Mercyhurst graduate students and another faculty member.

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This morning we bring you the latest on the remains of a body found in Bedford County.

Dr. Charles Ball, Forensic Odontologist, positively identified the skeletal remains found by hunters in late November.

The body was identified as 30-year old Audrey Phoenix of Portland, Oregon.

Police are still investigating why she was in Pennsylvania and the cause of her death.

She was reported missing by the Portland police department in mid-may and they will make the necessary notifications to Ms. Phoenix's family.

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