The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has identified human remains that were found nearly 50 years ago with the help of genealogy testing.
During a news conference Thursday, Detective Bill Springer announced that the remains found in June of 1974 belong to 15-year-old Susan Gale Poole who went missing in Broward County just before Christmas in 1972.
Poole’s remains were identified following genealogy testing by Othram Labs, a private forensic laboratory that utilizes genome sequencing to build DNA profiles, according to Springer.
Late last year, Othram Labs contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office about performing genealogy testing on cold cases.
“It was decided by the sheriff’s office and my supervisors that we would send up the unknown remains of the girl from 1974,” Springer said. “Thanks to Othram, they were able to identify her and build a profile.”
Scientists used that DNA profile to identify Poole’s mother and siblings. Poole’s mother is still alive and in her 90s.
Why your DNA may be solving cold cases
Poole was born on February 12, 1957. At the time of her disappearance, Poole lived with her family at a Fort Lauderdale trailer park, according to the PBSO. Poole was also staying at a friend’s apartment in Wilton Manors at the time.
Springer says Poole’s skeletal remains were found tied up in the mangroves of an area formerly known as “Burnt Bridges” along A1A in Palm Beach County.
The FACES Lab is helping police solve cold cases using DNA testing, facial reconstruction and the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing Persons.
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Louisiana State University’s FACES Lab has worked on a range of cold cases, from southern civil rights cases to ancient mummies from Egypt.
The FACES Lab is helping police solve these cold cases using DNA testing, facial reconstruction and the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing Persons.
The LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services work with various agencies in Louisiana and collect and analyze DNA samples from unidentified remains.
FACES is also one of the premier labs in forensic anthropology for facial reconstruction. The lab can use the skeletal remains to try to determine the victim’s race, age and sex.
“Based on the features of the skull, the location of the eye orbits compared to the nasal opening and then the shape of the jaw. We can take that information and we can create an image of what the person might have looked like,” said Ginesse Lisiti, FACES Director.
Listi says the lab takes these reconstructions and posts them in the hopes of finding the missing person’s family.
“Hopefully somebody could recognize it and say, ‘Well that looks like my uncle that went missing when I was a little girl,’ and then someone can call into law enforcement and say, ‘My uncle’s name is John Smith.’”
In Oct. 2021, the police were able to make an arrest and identify the “man in a well” from Sabine Parish. The police and the FACES Lab worked collaboratively to solve this murder and missing person case that is believed to be from 1984.
Cold Case Project Journalist Stanley Nelson says the lab is a really great asset to the state, the sheriff offices, the DA and the public.
Nelson met the FACES Lab while working on cold cases in Louisiana and Mississippi. Since 2009, Nelson has worked with LSU’s Cold Case Team and field class.
Nelson worked with the FACES Lab on the case of Joseph Edwards from the 1960s. Edwards was a young African American male in Accordia Parish who is believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by the Klu Klux Klan.
A skull was found that was presumed to be Edwards’; however, the FACES Lab determined that it did not belong to him. According to Nelson, the FACES Lab has obtained the DNA of Edwards’ sister in hopes that if his body is ever found the lab can use his sister’s DNA to make the determination.
In 2001, FACES Lab worked on the famous case of “Precious Doe” from Kansas City, Missouri. The lab was able to determine the age and sex of the remains and created one of their facial reconstructions.
“Precious Doe” was identified as Erica Green after her grandfather recognized her from an ad with a picture of the reconstruction. Her stepfather and mother were convicted of her murder.
According to the Manship News Service, FACES also worked in collaboration with The Louisiana Arts & Sciences Museum on the remains of a mummy from the bank of the Nile River in 300 BC.
“There are many missing people that have never been identified, and when the FACES Lab is able to get DNA from the family members of the missing and things like that, the hope remains that one day many of these people will be identified,” Nelson said.
Dr. Listi says you should always report a missing person to the police first, but the FACES Lab can help you through the process. to see the database of missing persons in Louisiana you can visit this site.
There are currently 624 open cases in the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing Persons.
Investigators hope DNA can help identify girl whose body was found over 60 years ago
The little girl, known as ‘Little Miss Nothing,’ was found partially buried in the desert near Congress in 1960. Now, almost 62 years following her death, investigators with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office hope that new DNA technology will help identify her. FOX 10’s Justin Lum reports.
PHOENIX – Cold case investigators with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office are working with a forensic lab in Texas, with hopes that advanced DNA testing can lead to the identification of a girl known as ‘Little Miss Nobody.’
The woman was found dead over 60 years ago, and the discovery of her body left a community shaken.
“Little girl, between three and five years old, found partially buried in the desert back in 1960,” said Lt. Tom Boelts with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
The remains were found in an area called Sand Wash Creek in Congress, Ariz. on July 31, 1960. Investigators believe her remains had been burned one to two weeks before she was found. The cause of death was listed as ‘undetermined yet suspicious,’ and it was ruled a homicide.
Lt. Boelts said the case made no progress until 2018, when authorities exhumed her body to get a DNA sample.
“When you have remains that are that old, at that time the best sample we were able to get was an incomplete sample,” said Lt. Boelts.
Now, YCSO has partnered with Othram Inc. for use of their private forensic lab. A better sample, as well as better technology, may be key, as Lt. Boelts says Familial DNA could lead investigators to a close relative of the victim.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to if we get them identified. Through that familial database, they’ll be able to call us and be able to tell us the background story on what happened to her, and how she ended up out there,” said Lt. Boelts.