Bones reveal more than meets the eye

by Brittany Yingling
Staff Writer

An Ohio University professor is using her knowledge of anthropology to aid the investigation of Kenyon College student Emily Murray's death.

The Bureau of Criminal Investigation, located in London, Ohio, asked for Nancy Tatarek's help in the investigation of Murray's remains. Tatarek, a visiting assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, aided in recovery from Dec. 14 through 16 and is still involved in the case.

Despite Tatarek's work, no new information has been released in the case, said Bret Crow, BCI public information officer.

Kenyon College will be organizing a memorial service on campus early next semester, said Shawn Presley, news director at Kenyon College.

This is not the first case for Tatarek, who graduated from Ohio State University. She said she has used her degree in physical anthropology to assist in the recovery and inspection of bones for the past six years. She has helped in about 40 cases.

"The goal is to try to recover the remains and then analyze not only the remains, but what information you gather from the scene and get as much information as possible," Tatarek said.

Recovery involves excavation techniques including photographs, notes and maps of the scene, Tatarek said.

"Every scene is completely unique to itself," she said.

Recovery can take anywhere from one to six days depending on conditions, she said.

"When you're doing the work, there's a great effort not to let it bother you, she said. "You don't want it to interfere with the work that you're doing. You want to maintain as much detachment as possible."

Once remains are recovered, Tatarek said she cleans the bones, examines them and assigns a biological profile when she is done.

Age is the first thing Tatarek identifies.

"I've worked on everything from a 16-week-old fetus to, in my dissertation work, my oldest person was 101 years old," Tatarek said.

Sex, ancestry and stature can also be determined by a range of characteristics, such as differences in the skull, the long bones in the leg and the size and shape of the pelvis.

A biological profile then is put into a missing persons database, where it will be matched with missing persons fitting that description, Tatarek said.

She said she also examines the bones for unique identifying factors that make it easier to find a match in the database.

Dental fillings, missing teeth, sinus patterns and broken bones are common occurrences that can make a definite match.

Tatarek said she looks for signs of trauma in the final stage of the examination. She said this is more common when studying remains from mass deaths, which she has never done.

Tatarek said she does not receive financial reimbursement for her work.

"I think that the reason I do it is because maybe if I didn't help, they wouldn't get as much information," she said.