A new exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center is bringing new life to some very old unsolved murders and missing persons cases.
The exhibit features clay busts and drawings, digital compositions, artifacts and information about the crime scenes.
Dr. Erin Kimmerle, who is a University of South Florida associate professor of anthropology, directed a team to investigate the cases in the exhibit.
The team exhumed some remains from graves in cases where the victim had not been identified.
They then use forensic methods to come up with a realistic view of what the person looked like in life.
“We do all the anthropological analysis, so we look at the skeletons for age and sex and all of the things we can learn about a person. The skulls are scanned, we use a table a table top scanner,” said Kimmerle.
The work is a combination of art, science and forensics.
“Then of course we send out the DNA and chemical isotope test and get all of that back and try to put together a story of who this person was based on their biology,” said Kimmerle.
One of the clay busts is of a man found in a pond in Hillsborough County in 1982.
“Since 1982 we do not have an identification of this man. Nobody seems to know who he is,” said Corporal Greg Thomas with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Kimmerle’s team was able to use a chemical isotope test to establish that the man was from Florida.
“What’s interesting is that you’ve heard you’ve heard you are what you eat. So the elements remain in your tissues, teeth, hair, bones. So what we’re looking at the water and food that somebody ate and asking that question, is that consistent with where they are found, like Florida,” said Kimmerle.
The information may help Corporal Thomas and other detectives at the sheriff’s office learn new information about their cases.
“So maybe somebody will recognize him as their brother, their uncle, their father,” said Thomas.
The exhibit will be at the Tampa Bay History Center for one month.
