Animals, not man, savaged corpse


MEADVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The murder of a reclusive Crawford County woman in 1997 remains unsolved, but state police have now determined the woman wasn’t disemboweled by her killer.

Instead, police say the corpse of 76-year-old Clara Kenvin was ravaged by animals before it was discovered in her basement on May 5, 1997.

Investigators had been unsure whether the killer had cut open the victim’s body and removed her organs and some of her bones, or whether animals did that.

But state police say tests on animal waste found in the house show traces of the woman’s bones.

The tests were conducted by scientists at the University of Florida, because Coroner Patrick McHenry says researchers there have more experience with animal attacks because of that state’s alligator population.