What Remains: Charlotte solves cold case with help from Wake forensic genealogist
2Human remains were found by a construction crew. WRAL's Amanda Lamb explains what it takes to connect these finds to the missing and the murdered.
Full story: https://www.wral.com/the-challenge-of-identifying-people-who-lived-in-the-shadows/20439259/
It’s not unusual for remains to go unidentified when a person is living off the grid –living on the streets, stuck in poverty, addiction or mental illness. Investigators have told me repeatedly that they don’t care what someone’s background is, whether the person is homeless or a sex worker, they believe everyone deserves to be identified and returned to their families. But historically, many people from these backgrounds remain unidentified.
Families left without answers
In many of these cases, their families are estranged from them, and they don’t even know where their loved ones were when they disappeared. These are caught up in the classic cycle of police officers needing to handle the crisis of the day and not having the resources to continually look for missing people or identify unidentified remains when there are no leads in a case.
'A solemn responsibility'
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Lt. Brian Crum calls the mission to identify all unidentified remains “a solemn responsibility.”
It’s a responsibility Det. Matt Hefner takes seriously.
WHAT REMAINS is a production of WRAL Studios and hosted by veteran crime reporter Amanda Lamb. Find and follow the podcast now in your favorite podcast app.
Full episode: https://www.whatremainspodcast.com/paying-the-price-for-dna-testing/
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