Arm bones found in Greenville sent for testing

STAFF REPORT

GREENVILLE, Pa. — Forensics experts are busy trying to find out more about three human arm bones workers found during a house demolition.

John Libonati, Mercer County deputy coroner, said today that experts at Mercyhurst College in Erie hope to shed light within a week on the age and gender of the person to whom the arm belonged.

He said tests won’t be exact, but should be able to provide an estimate for how long the arm was buried in the basement of the house at 103 Shenango St., behind a Sheetz store.

The arm definitely belonged to an adult, Libonati said. No other bones were found after workers stopped their excavation around 11:30 a.m. Thursday to report their discovery to police.

Libonati was called in around 1 p.m., police said, and he contacted Steven A. Symes, a forensic pathologist from Mercyhurst.

Symes and his team arrived at 5:10 p.m. and searched the site until 8:30 p.m.

Initial reports said the bones were found buried under the concrete floor, but Libonati said that’s not certain.

He said there was a lot of debris in the basement, and its hard to tell whether the bones came from under the floor. He said, though, that they definitely came from the basement area.