THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
NATIONAL PARK THIS WEEK.
BO
WE TOLD YOU MONDAY--PARK
OFFICIALS SAY A HIKER MADE THE
DISCOVERY OFF THE PARK TRAIL
NEAR
LAUREL CREEK ROAD. THE REMAINS
ARE BELIEVED TO BE
SEVERAL MONTHS OLD.
LORI
NEW AT FOUR.. WATE 6 ON YOUR
SIDE REPORTER KIRSTIE CRAWFORD
SPOKE WITH RENOWNED
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST
DR-WILLIAM BASS TO FIND OUT HOW
OLDER REMAINS CAN BE
IDENTIFIED... SHE JOINS US NOW
IN
THE STUDIO..
KIRSTIE
AS MANY KNOW...DR BASS
STARTED THE BODY FARM AT U-T...
BECAUSE OF THE WORK HE HAS
DONE THERE...HE'S HELPED
AUTHORITIES IN HUNDREDS OF CASES
TO IDENTIFY REMAINS OR FIND
OUT HOW THEY DIED...INCLUDING
SEVERAL CASES IN THE SMOKY
MOUNTAINS.
"THE SKELETON IS REALLY A
LIBRARY
OF THE HISTORY OF THAT
INDIVIDUAL."
JUST BY LOOKING AND FEELING THE
BONES...A FORENSIC
ANTHROPOLOGIST
CAN FIND IMPORTANT CLUES. "IN
TEN MINUTES I COULD TELL YOU I
THINK THE AGE AND THE SEX OF THE
INDIVIDUAL. RACE WOULD TAKE A
LITTLE LONGER."
DR WILLIAM BASS HAS BEEN
STUDYING BONES FOR DECADES. HE
SAYS INVESTIGATORS USUALLY
FIRST ASK THE PERSON'S AGE.
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGISTS CAN
DETERMINE AGE SEVERAL
DIFFERENT WAYS.
"IF YOU FIND THE BONE AND PICK
IT
UP, AND BOTH ENDS ARE ATTACHED,
YOU KNOW THAT INDIVIDUAL IS AT
LEAST 16 FOR FEMALES, 18 FOR
MALES."
THE OLDER THE PERSON...THE MORE
FRAIL THE BONES ARE.
TEETH ALSO SHOW AGE. "ARE THE
BABY TEETH GONE, ARE
ALL THE TEETH, ARE THE THIRD
MOLARS
IN? IF THE THIRD MOLAR'S IN YOU
KNOW IT'S 18."
NEXT...IDENTIFYING THE SEX.
DR BASS SAYS THERE ARE TWO MAIN
AREAS TO FOCUS ON: THE SKULL AND
THE PELVIS.
YOU'RE LOOKING AT A LONG PUBIC
BONE
IN FEMALES AND A WIDE SCIATIC
NOTCH."
IN SOME CASES...IDENTIFYI
NG REMAINS CAN BE EASIER OR
HARDER.
"THERE'S A BONE THAT WAS BROKEN
AT ONE TIME, AND IT IS HEALED,
AND THE
HEAL IS GOOD-IT HAD BEEN SET IN
A
CAST- AND SO THERE SHOULD BE A
RECORD OF THAT SOMEWHERE."
NATURE MAKES CASES HARDER. DR
BASS SAYS DURING THE
SUMMER MONTHS IN
TENNESSEE...BODI
ES DECOMPOSE FASTER. ANIMALS
THOUGH...CAN RUIN
THE WHOLE STORY.
"THERE ARE THREE CANES ATTRACTED
TO A DECAYING BODY: DOGS,
COYOTES AND BEARS. AND IN THE
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN ONE, YOU
WOULD HAVE A POSSIBILITY OF ALL
THREE OF THOSE."
GIVEN THE OBSTACLES IN THE SMOKY
MOUNTAINS...IT COULD BE AWHILE
BEFORE WE KNOW
MORE ABOUT THE REMAINS FOUND
THERE THIS WEEK.
IT WAS A FASCINATING
CONVERSATION:
DR BASS IS WELL KNOWN FOR RE-
EXAMINING THE BIG BOPPER'S BONES
YEARS AFTER THE INFAMOUS PLANE
CRASH...AND THE LINDBERGH BABY
KIDNAPPING CASE.
LORI
BOI
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN PARK
RANGERS SAY THEY ARE WAITING
FOR
THE FORENSICS LAB TO IDENTIFY
THE BODY BEFORE RELEASING ANY
MORE INFORMATION.WE'LL LET YOU
KNOW WHEN WE FIND OUT.
LORI
