Decades-Old Heart Tissue Identifies Skeleton
Shelly Whitehead
Kentucky Post
___________
Florence, KY (United States):
A tiny, decades-old sample of heart tissue socked away in a Louisville hospital proved to be the critical link in identifying the remains of a man discovered last year in Florence.
Otha Young Jr. was last seen by his family nine years ago this week at his Louisville home.
When Florence police announced Thursday that the skeletal remains found last November along Interstate 75 were those of Young, 65, it finally answered the long-asked questions of his loved ones about his unexplained disappearance.
But, it also opened up a whole new set of questions about how and why he was killed, then abandoned along a roadside 100 miles from his home.
Florence Police Capt. Linny Cloyd said that although investigators received dozens of inquiries about the remains, the information provided by Otha Young's family most closely matched evidence found with the remains.
Kentucky forensic anthropologist Dr. Emily Craig performed the recovery and biological profile of the remains, but credited the exhaustive and creative sleuthing of Florence Detective Walt Cooley with unlocking the mystery.
"From the skeleton, I knew the person had had open-heart surgery, because his breastbone was wired together," Craig said.
"But, Detective Cooley not only came up with the name, ... but he was able to track down the fact that there was a ... tissue sample in the hospital where the surgery was done decades ago."
That was used to do DNA analysis that conclusively determined that the bone matter found in Florence matched that tiny sample preserved in wax or plastic after Young's heart surgery.
Though Young had a wired breastbone from his heart surgery, he had another recent injury that suggests he was killed, officials said.
Oct 15, 2005
Shelly Whitehead
Kentucky Post
___________
Florence, KY (United States):
A tiny, decades-old sample of heart tissue socked away in a Louisville hospital proved to be the critical link in identifying the remains of a man discovered last year in Florence.
Otha Young Jr. was last seen by his family nine years ago this week at his Louisville home.
When Florence police announced Thursday that the skeletal remains found last November along Interstate 75 were those of Young, 65, it finally answered the long-asked questions of his loved ones about his unexplained disappearance.
But, it also opened up a whole new set of questions about how and why he was killed, then abandoned along a roadside 100 miles from his home.
Florence Police Capt. Linny Cloyd said that although investigators received dozens of inquiries about the remains, the information provided by Otha Young's family most closely matched evidence found with the remains.
Kentucky forensic anthropologist Dr. Emily Craig performed the recovery and biological profile of the remains, but credited the exhaustive and creative sleuthing of Florence Detective Walt Cooley with unlocking the mystery.
"From the skeleton, I knew the person had had open-heart surgery, because his breastbone was wired together," Craig said.
"But, Detective Cooley not only came up with the name, ... but he was able to track down the fact that there was a ... tissue sample in the hospital where the surgery was done decades ago."
That was used to do DNA analysis that conclusively determined that the bone matter found in Florence matched that tiny sample preserved in wax or plastic after Young's heart surgery.
Though Young had a wired breastbone from his heart surgery, he had another recent injury that suggests he was killed, officials said.
Oct 15, 2005
