The Lost and the Found

http://articles.philly.com/1998-12-15/news/25723551_1_honecker-human-skull-human-skeleton

Skull's Identity Defies Decade Of Police Work A Young Woman's Remains Were Found In Monmouth County In 1988. Officials Are Hoping For New Leads.

By Lillian Micko, INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF
POSTED: December 15, 1998
Ten years ago, a resident helping to clear some land for a bicycle trail in the small Shore community of Atlantic Highlands in Monmouth County came upon something hard in the dirt.

A piece of plastic, perhaps. Maybe a ball. But a human skull? That is what it turned out to be, and more excavating uncovered 85 percent of a human skeleton.

Studies at the time produced this profile of the body's possible identity: white female, age 15 to 18, between 5-foot-1 and 5-4, and between 100 and 120 pounds.

Among the law-enforcement officials at the scene that day, Dec. 10, 1988, was Robert A. Honecker Jr., director of investigations for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Honecker, now the second assistant prosecutor, is hoping the 10-year anniversary sparks renewed interest in the case and new leads on the identity of the remains.

At the time of the discovery, he and a few other investigators who had some training in the recovery of skeletal remains arranged for a forensic anthropologist to be taken to the location, Honecker said last week.

The specialist determined that the clothing on the remains, including hippie-era platform shoes and a long-sleeved laced top, indicated that the bones had been there since the late 1960s or early 1970s, Honecker said.

Because of the passage of time, there was no ``body'' for an autopsy, although an examination showed there had been no trauma to any bones, he said. The anthropologist's findings were turned over to a State Police artist who produced a sketch that was distributed widely. However, there was no break in the case.

In 1992, Honecker said, new techniques and the assistance of the FBI led to the creation of a clay reconstruction over the skull. Again, hundreds of photos were distributed of the model, showing what the young woman might have looked like. Still nothing. At that point, Honecker said, the investigation had covered almost every state and had extended overseas. Leads were followed in England by Interpol, the international investigation agency. Nothing still.

In 1997, several pieces of the skeletal remains were sent for DNA profiling to LabCorp in North Carolina. Three months ago, the results of that analysis led to a profile that seemed to lead to a major break: The young woman's possible appearance matched the description of a girl who had been missing from the Mount Holly area since 1975.

A DNA sample from the girl's father was taken, but testing showed that the skeletal remains could not have been those of his daughter, Honecker said.

Honecker said he was optimistic that with even greater technological advances, science could help investigators finally identify the girl, who would have been a woman in her 40s today.

``Someone out there is related to her,'' he said. ``Someone may still be looking for her and be having hopes of finding her. She may be somebody's niece, daughter or sister. . . . We would like to bring closure.''

Anyone with information that may help identify the remains is asked to call Capt. Philip George or Detective Adam Hubeny in the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office at 800-533-7443 or Detective Sgt. Carolyn Thompson of the Atlantic Highlands police at 732-291-1212.