TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Email
Print
Skull Found In Old Tampa Bay Going To Forensic Artist
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: July 15, 2008
TAMPA - A skull found off the Courtney Campbell Parkway in June will go to a forensic artist in Polk County who will attempt to sketch a likeness of the person.
Snorkelers found the skull in a pot in about 5 feet of water on June 28. No other body parts were found in the pot or within the 50-foot radius searched by police divers.
The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office determined the skull is that of a white man who was 25 to 40 years old.
Darlene Melius of the Lakeland Police Department will measure the skull and use the dimensions as a basis for the sketch.
Investigators expect to send the skull to Melius this week, said Pete Bihorel, manager of investigations for the medical examiner.
Melius already is working on a skull found more than 30 years ago near Thonotosassa. That skull is thought to be that of a white woman 17 to 30 years old.
That skull was found near a cemetery in 1975. It is the oldest unidentified body part among roughly 60 in the medical examiner's office.
The skull was found in an orange grove on Timmons Road on Sept. 23, 1975. This is the first time the medical examiner's office has used the services of Melius. The office has used clay reconstruction in other cases.
Bihorel expects the reconstructive drawing of the 1975 skull to be finished this week and for Melius to start work on the Courtney Campbell skull after that.
"Hopefully, it will be this week," he said.
Once the drawing is finished, it will be added to the county medical examiner's database of unidentified bodies and sent to a federal database.
Investigators have not determined determined a cause of death in the case of the causeway skull. Some medical objects were found in the iron pot.
There was no flesh on the skull, meaning the person had been long dead.
The Hillsborough County database is online at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/medexam/about/unidentif....
Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.
Email
Print
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
