TX TX - Garland, UnsFem 50-90, UP1816, in suitcase w/initials RB, chkbk, business card, May'02

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Romulus

Romulus

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  • NamUs UP 1816

    https://identifyus.org/en/cases/1816

    Unidentified Body/Remains (Unsure Female)
    Found May 25, 2002 in     Dallas County, TX
    Body Condition:     Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton
    Probable year of death: 1950 to 2002

    Vital Statistics
    Estimated age: 50-90     (Adult)
    Approximate Height: cannot estimate
    Approximate Weight: cannot estimate
    Hair Color: unknown
    Eye Color: unknown
    Scars and marks:         Skull with mandible glued on. Edentulous

    Clothing & Accessories
    Clothing: nothing
    Jewerly: nothing
    Footwear:     nothing
    Accessories:     nothing

    Identifiers
    Fingerprints: Fingerprint information is currently available
    Dentals: Dental information / charting is available and will be entered later
    DNA:     Complete - Insufficient DNA for profiling
    Case History:     Found in trunk at garage sale. Race unknown/edentulous/skull found in red samsonite hard sided suitcase with the initials RB on handle that was purchased at a sale. Also found was an attorney's business card and checkbook with the name Rebecca Beach, 110 FM 1960 W, Suite F 333, Houston, TX.

    ​

 
I’m an attorney in TX. There is no attorney by the name of Rebecca Beach registered with the state bar, which would seem to suggest that the checkbook and business card belonged to different individuals. Has LE released the name on the business card? It would also be helpful to know the identity of the individual who sold the trunk and how they came into possession of it.
 
71a7vXbzn8L._AC_SY741_.jpg

Just for reference, this is what the suitcase looks like.
 
Possible year of death 1950-2002 with the mandible glued on? Sounds like it might be a medical specimen or something, especially in Houston with the amount of healthcare training that goes on in the area. Plenty of medical and other associated schools in the Dallas area as well. And poor Rebecca! If she's in the suitcase or even just happened to own it once upon a time it must be awful to get mixed up in something so strange.
 
annemc2 said:
Possible year of death 1950-2002 with the mandible glued on? Sounds like it might be a medical specimen or something, especially in Houston with the amount of healthcare training that goes on in the area. Plenty of medical and other associated schools in the Dallas area as well. And poor Rebecca! If she's in the suitcase or even just happened to own it once upon a time it must be awful to get mixed up in something so strange.
Click to expand...
I am uncertain as to where @Romulus obtained the information regarding the glued-on mandible. Both the URL in @Romulus 's post, as well as the hyperlink in the post by @YaYa_521 link to a NamUs profile with no mention of the mandible. Could the profile have since been revised? Similarly, I see no information regarding dental records or DNA on the current profile.
 
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annemc2 said:
Possible year of death 1950-2002 with the mandible glued on? Sounds like it might be a medical specimen or something, especially in Houston with the amount of healthcare training that goes on in the area. Plenty of medical and other associated schools in the Dallas area as well. And poor Rebecca! If she's in the suitcase or even just happened to own it once upon a time it must be awful to get mixed up in something so strange.
Click to expand...

There is, unfortunately, an illegal trade in human remains, specifically skulls (see: Human Skulls Are Being Sold Online, But Is It Legal?). The circumstances under which this particular skull were found suggest, IMO, that it was either acquired illegally or belongs to a victim who met with foul play. It is unclear from the known facts whether the decedent was a resident of Texas at the time of her death. If she was, there are strict laws and regulations governing the disposition and trade of human remains in Texas, as in many states. For instance, unless the decedent has left written directions for the disposition of her remains, there is a duty to inter them, whether cremated or not. Tex. Health & Safety Code § 711.002. Moreover, since at least 1985 it has been illegal in Texas to purchase or sell human organs, including bone, except under a few very narrow exceptions that do not appear applicable in this case. Texas Penal Code § 48.02. The handling and disposition of remains are subject to an abundance of health and safety regulations. See Tex. Health & Safety Code, Title 8.
 
@lawyer_sleuth in the original Namus data (in post #1 under Scars and Marks) it says the mandible was glued on and was also edentulous. In the current Namus record it simply says edentulous. Whether the original information was an error or they have now hidden that field from public view in Namus we don't know.

So... if you don't know the residence status of the deceased, is there an assumption of residence in the case it is unknown? So that having a skull (ie: as a desk ornament, as we have seen in another recent case here on WS) would be a crime in TX under most circumstances? I ask because wouldn't it be a bit creepy for someone to have a known person's skull in their possession?

I guess the fact that there were no teeth (edentulous) is important because it reduces the possibility of having a good DNA source.
 
Anybody make sense of the address:

110 FM 1960 W, Suite F 333, Houston, TX

Plenty at 110 Farm-to-Market 1960, but Suite F-333 seems to be a Hooters? Westfield is a mall developer, AFAIK. Does the street named Westfield indicate a big mall was here?

What did this area look like in 2002? Can anyone post a map from that time?

Was this Rebecca Beach's garage sale? Surely the buyer of the suitcase could take LE back to the location of the garage sale?

We garage-saled using a newspaper or shopper paper in '02, so the buyer likely had an address.

But -- if the poor buyer didn't open the suitcase for a while -- what an unpleasant surprise in your 'nice new' suitcase!

Hope fully a medical sample that Rebecca Beach forgot about.

Aha! Click on this link, and scroll down to the second row of providers:

Richland Hospital Clinic - The Richland Hospital

Traveled to Houston for a conference, red suitcase ended up in a lost luggage auction???

Do ya think LE Googled??? Placed a phone call?
 
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