Court Grants Exhumation Of 2 Bodies In Westmoreland Co. Cold Cases
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Two cold cases are getting a second look in Westmoreland County.
State police say they want to use new technology to try to identify the two bodies, one a teen girl and the other an hours-old baby boy, dumped back in the 1960s.
State police are now asking a court to allow the bodies to be exhumed to continue the investigation.
Marker A-608 marks that spot of a pauper's grave at Westmoreland County's Potter's Field. It's where two unknown victims of violence were found.
The story begins with a gruesome discovery along County Road in Salem Township a long time ago.
"September of 1967, an unidentified female was found in, at the time, what was a garbage dump," said Trooper Brian Gross, of Pennsylvania State Police.
The body of the young girl had been there for some time. The victim covered with dirt and trash.
"Some of the reports indicate she was 10 to 14, some say 14 to 16," said Trooper Gross.
The remains were so decomposed that an exact cause of death was not determined, but circumstances pointed to something terrible happening to the girl.
Then, the baby's remains were found.
"An unidentified infant that was found in the Jeannette sewer system," said Trooper Gross. "The baby was born, was able to breath on its own and possibly had drowned in the sewer system."
The baby boy was premature.
Neither of the deaths are believed related, but the two share that same grave.
Trooper Gross took it upon himself to investigate. The court granted permission for the veteran trooper to exhume the remains and find out who they were and maybe who killed them.
"We're going to be assisted by Children's Hospital who has offered to do a CT scan of the victims' skulls, so that we can do a reconstruction, a facial reconstruction, and then we will have some DNA work done by the University of North Texas," said Trooper Gross.
The process will take time, and it's possible, despite the effort, the victims' names may forever be unknown due to the passage of time.
But for Trooper Gross it must be attempted.
"It's somebody's child, that's the reason, to bring some closure, hopefully, for somebody," he said.
With a court order in hand, the exhumation of the two individuals is set to begin on Friday of this week.
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