Area authorities exhume second unidentified body for DNA tests
Authorities who recently exhumed the body of an unidentified child found along Kerbaugh Road in northern Blair County in February 1987 — so DNA technology can identify her — have also exhumed the body of another unidentified person found in the region.
The child has been labeled Baby Agnes Doe, whom the Blair County coroner at the time of her discovery determined was the victim of a homicide by unknown means.
The other individual was a male who had been driving a westbound van on I-80 that was involved in a three-vehicle crash Aug. 2, 2000, resulting in the death of four occupants — three of whom were identified at the time, according to a state police news release Monday.
The remains of Baby Agnes were exhumed June 10 in Tyrone, while the remains of the crash victim, designated Interstate-80 John Doe, were exhumed June 11 in Bellefonte.
The I-80 John Doe case has been entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, according to the news release.
The hope is that identifying I-80 John Doe can provide his family with closure, the news release states.
The remains of both Baby Agnes and I-80 John Doe were examined by anthropologists from Florida, after which DNA samples were sent to Pennsylvania state police, whose investigators will work in cooperation with the State Police Regional Crime Lab to complete DNA analysis.
The exhumations are part of a Bureau of Justice Assistance Missing and Unidentified Human Remains program, which provided a $1 million grant so that University of South Florida forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle can work with Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania State Coroners Association and Innovative Forensics to identify remains in this state, according to the news release and online information.
The Blair and Centre district attorneys, the Blair and Centre county coroners, Ray’s Burial Vault, Feller Memorial Home, Meyer Cemetery and Wetzler Funeral Service helped authorize and execute the exhumations, according to the news release.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.