Human remains found in Saratoga County

[MedicCook]

Human remains found
3/11/2006 4:06 PM
By: Capital News 9 Web Staff

Authorities are investigating human remains found in Saratoga County.

A hunter found the skeletal remains in the Daketown State Forest in the town of Greenfield on Friday.

No word on who the remains may belong to, or whether foul play may have been involved in the death.

The remains were taken to Albany Medical Center to be examined. The investigation is a joint effort between the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office and State Police.

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=171636

[sws4420]

Awesome.

[MedicCook]

JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian03/12/2006

GREENFIELD -- A forensic pathologist at Albany Medical Center will compare teeth from a human skeleton found in Daketown State Forest with dental records from missing persons cases around the state.


'That's the next step,' Saratoga County Coroner John DeMartino said Saturday as state troopers from the forensic identification unit worked in the woods about a mile north of Middle Grove in the town of Greenfield. 'They are doing their crime scene investigation now to make sure they find everything that is there.'

State police technicians carried out the bones in brown paper grocery bags and placed them in their van at around 1 p.m.

Investigators at the scene were also hoping that pathologists at Albany Medical Center can tell them the age and gender of the skeleton and how long the body had been in the woods. DeMartino said other specialists might need to be consulted, depending on how much of the skeleton is recovered.

Saratoga County Undersheriff Michael Woodcock said it might be days before he knows more.

Joan Chambers lives a few hundred feet up Daketown Road from the scene. She said she arrived home Friday afternoon to find a man in her driveway.

'He said he'd found a skull while walking with his dog in the state forest,' she said. 'He wanted help calling the police because he didn't want to leave the skull there unattended.'

She said one Sheriff's car arrived soon, followed by others.

Woodcock said a deputy and two forest rangers stood guard over the scene all night until the forensics team arrived Saturday morning.

DeMartino, a retired Sheriff's investigator, said the bones were in an area of dense brush and scrubby, 10- to 12-foot-tall pines planted in parallel rows. The body was about 100 feet from an open area that is accessible by car.

'It wasn't on a trail or path or anything,' he said. 'It's a very difficult area with the pine needles and everything.'

He couldn't tell if the skeleton was male or female or how much of it was found. He doubted that a full set of bones could be recovered, though. The bones were scattered, probably the result of animal activity.

A small amount of hair was also recovered, he said.

Woodcock said that a small amount of clothing was found as well.

Both men said the bones were visible on the ground, not buried.

Sheriff's deputies went through the area with police dogs Saturday morning looking for other evidence. A state police helicopter flew over the area with a photographer taking high-resolution pictures for later analysis, DeMartino said.

DeMartino didn't know how long the skeleton had been in the woods. The rate of decay quickens in warm weather and slows in cold weather or when there is heavy snowpack. A few traces of winter snow were still visible in shady parts of the forest, but the area has been warming and thawing over the past few days.

Neighbors, who didn't want to give their names, said Daketown State Forest is getting increasing numbers of hikers, hunters and dog-walkers as new homes pop up in the neighborhood. Snowmobiles and ATVs are banned.

The forest consists of 505 acres on Daketown, Lake Desolation, Coy and Kilmer roads, according to a state Department of Environmental Conservation Web site. The property has two streams -- Gasher Brook and Blue Brook -- that flow into the Kayaderosseras Creek.

The area is about 12 miles north and west of Saratoga Springs.

Earlier this week while answering questions about illegal dumping, the state Forest Rangers said they patrol the area. But their roster shows that only four such officers handle thousands of acres of state land in Greenfield, Wilton, Providence, Edinburg, Hadley and Day.

http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16288143&BRD=1169&PAG=461&dept_id=17708&rfi=6

[sws4420]

I hope it's someone I know.

[mb*]

her name was christina white, she was 19, and she used to live in stockade.

i can't find a picture. she'd been missing since 6.30.05.

[mb*]

GREENFIELD -- The human skeleton found in Daketown State Forest has been identified as Christina White, 19, of Stockade Trailer Court, Ballston Spa, who was last seen by family members in the evening hours of June 30, 2005.


A forensic dentist at Albany Medical Center compared the teeth from the skeleton to the dental records from missing persons cases around the state.

'The only thing right now that was done is a positive identification with the dental records,' said Saratoga County Coroner John DeMartino said. 'There will be more investigation on the bones.'

He said a specialist will examine the bones looking for fractures and other signs of trauma that might shed light on how White died.

'We just don't know yet,' DeMartino, a retired Sheriff's investigator, said. 'I know the Sheriff's office did a pretty thorough investigation when she went missing.'

He thinks White's body had been in the forest since shortly after her disappearance.

He said most of White's skeleton was found Saturday, but not all of it. There was no flesh on the bones, which were found on top of the ground, not buried.

Technicians from the state police Forensic Identification Unit also recovered some hair and a small amount of clothing.

The Saratoga County Sheriff's office issued a press release but didn't return calls on Sunday.

Missing posters with White's picture are still up in the Stockade Trailer park, now known as Saratoga Village.

Cynthia Whitfield, a neighbor who doesn't know the family, said she was sadden to hear that White is dead.

'It's got to be of some comfort to the family to have some closure ... even if it's bad closure,' Whitfield said. 'The not knowing is over.'

White was last seen for sure at her family's Rock City Road home, although there was an unconfirmed sighting on Gesyer Road the night of her disappearance. Police had considered her a possible runaway, something her mother discounted because Christina left home without taking anything and hasn't tried to access her money since she left.

White suffered from bi-polar disorder and favored dark goth-style clothing.

Police believe there was foul play involved.

Her home is only about 6 miles away from Daketown Road.

State troopers from the Forensic Identification Unit worked in the woods about a mile north of Middle Grove in the town of Greenfield Saturday.

The bones were found by a man who was walking with his dog in the state forest. It was in an area of dense brush and scrubby, 10- to 12-foot-tall pines planted in parallel rows.

The body was about 100 feet from an open area that is accessible by car.

Suzanne White, Christina's mother, thought of her daughter when she heard of a man trying to kidnap a senior on Oct. 31 at Saratoga Springs High School.

John Regan of Waterbury, Conn., is in Saratoga County Jail awaiting trial on that attempted kidnapping.

He's also accused of rape and kidnapping in his hometown and has been a suspect in a number of prostitution killings

'I just think there is a possibility he had something to do with Christina,' Suzanne White had said. 'She was 19, but she looked 16 or 17.'

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Christina after June 30, 2005, is asked to contact the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office at 885-2475 or 885-6761.

Nicholas Derasmo contributed to this report.

[Cutesunshine]

http://content.troopers.state.ny.us/GetPhoto.aspx?PhotoID=223


i think this is her.

[sws4420]

Someone in Stockade Trailer Park had dental records? :huh:

[mb*]

har har.

[MedicCook]

Police: Death was a murder
JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian03/16/2006

MILTON -- A Milton woman whose skeleton was found Friday in Daketown State Forest was stabbed to death, the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.


'We are treating this as a homicide,' Undersheriff Michael Woodcock said.

Christina N. White left her family home in the Stockade Mobile Home Park on Rock City Road June 30. She was last seen in the Geyser Road-Rowland Street area in the early morning of July 1.

Her family reported her missing July 3. She was 19 years old when she was reported missing, but her 20th birthday has since passed.

Woodcock said Wednesday that police don't know when White died. Based on the condition of her skeleton, they believe she'd been dead in the woods since shortly after her disappearance.

Daketown State Forest, 505 acres of mostly pine tree plantations, is about a mile north of Middle Grove on Lake Desolation Road and about six miles from White's home. The forest is about 15 miles north and west of Saratoga Springs.

White's mother, Suzanne White, had said before the body was found that they feared the worst because Christina did not access her bank account, or use her cell phone.

Christina White suffered from bipolar disorder and was in the habit of taking long walks when she was upset.

The Rev. Nick TeBordo of the United Church of Cohoes remembered White as a little girl who came to Sunday school every week, often bringing her younger brother and sister with her. TeBordo, who will preside over White's funeral at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the 123 Mohawk St. church, hadn't seen her since her family moved from Cohoes 12 years ago, though.

'I didn't know the woman she'd become, or was becoming, I should say,' TeBordo said. 'I remember a little girl who obviously loved her brother and sister and who loved Jesus.'

He has spoken often with the White family since Sunday, when a forensic dentist matched the remains with White's records and identified the bones as hers.

'I know they are coming together,' TeBordo said. 'I know they'd been praying since she disappeared.'

Undersheriff Woodcock said a task force of about 20 detectives from the county and state police is still working on the case.

'We're concentrating on the town of Milton right now, all the places she hung out,' Woodcock said. 'We're talking to all the ex-boyfriends, friends and family members.'

He said they are looking for anyone who may have seen White to call them at 885-2475 or 885-6761. She was a small, slightly built woman and favored dark, goth-style clothing.

http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16313972&BRD=1169&PAG=461&dept_id=17708&rfi=6