Summary:
- Police intensify search for killer(s) after dismembered remains of a woman found in three suitcases in Delray Beach.
- Forensic expert highlights methods for identifying the victim, including DNA, dental records, and fingerprints.
- Water may have preserved the remains, aiding the investigation.
- Time is not a barrier to DNA identification, according to the forensic anthropologist.
- Facial reconstruction image released to help identify the victim and gather leads.
Tonight, the search intensifying for the killer or killers who murdered a woman dismembered her and put her remains in three suitcases in Delray Beach. CBS 12's Al Pefley talked to an expert, a forensic expert, on how police would go about trying to solve this case. Al joins us live tonight with what he's learned.
Expert's Analysis on Identifying the Victim
Jim has been nearly a week since Delray Beach police recovered three suitcases containing a woman's body parts from here in the Intracoastal Waterway. An expert says the fact that police have now released a sketch of what the victim may have looked like is just the beginning. Dr. Aaron Kimberley, a forensic anthropologist at the University of South Florida, has worked on more than 400 cases involving unidentified human remains. She says authorities can use fingerprints, DNA evidence or dental records to try to identify the woman in the suitcases in Delray Beach. DNA can take a week. It can take months if you submit it to a national DNA lab. So it's great when dental records are available because it can be a much quicker match. She says police will look at the human remains for any trauma, disease, injuries and tool marks that will help them understand the circumstances around her death. She says in cases like this, police will also scour missing person reports across the state to see if anyone matching the woman's description has been reported missing.Facial Reconstruction and Investigation Process
If so, they might confirm the woman's identity through dental records from the missing woman's relatives. The first and quickest methods would be fingerprints or dental if they have anyone matching the general description with whom they could compare it. She says the fact that the suitcases were in water for a few days may not hamper the investigation. Well, generally speaking, water will preserve remains. The decomposition slows down quite a bit when it's wet. She says releasing a facial reconstruction image of the victim, as Delray Beach police did on Wednesday, is very important. You can show who that victim is and hopefully get leads that way and then quickly get samples to the DNA labs to see if there is potentially a match.Time Not a Deterrent for DNA Identification
The challenge in where it will, you know, investigation stall is because for one of many reasons, people aren't put into that missing person system. Although we don't know how long the woman had been dead before her remains were found in the three suitcases, Dr. Kimberly says the passage of time is not necessarily a deterrent in terms of being able to get DNA samples. She says they get DNA from cases that are 70 years old, 100 years old all the time. I've been Delray Beach, Al Pefley, CBS 12 News.This is another look at the artist's rendering of what the victim may look like. It came from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office created by forensic imaging detectives. Last year, CBS 12 News spoke to one of those detectives, Autumn Kirk. You were a taxi on the sidewalk in a park and there's no cameras and there's nothing else really around. But the eyewitness has this account of the crime that occurred, then we could do an interview with the eyewitness and come up with a suspect composite. She identifies unique features and with computer software, she paints a picture of what the person might have looked like. If you have any idea on who this woman is, you are asked to contact Delray Beach Police.