Wednesday, April 13, 2016
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A jacket that was on a partial skeleton found last week on the North Side has a bullet in it.
Dr. Joseph Ohr, forensic pathologist and deputy Mahoning County coroner, said the bullet was lodged in the jacket, but it never penetrated the lining.
The jacket was found on the skeletal torso of a man who was found Friday on Wydesteel Avenue in a vacant lot. Investigators expect to return later this week to look for more evidence that may have been hidden by snow and heavy rains.
Police were notified of the skeleton about 10 p.m. Friday, when a man who used to live where the home stood came to the police department with a skull and told officers he found it there as he walked through the lot. Officers went to the scene Friday evening and returned Saturday with the Mahoning County Coroner’s office to excavate the site.
Dr. Ohr is trying to determine a cause of death. He said the skeleton appears to be of a black man in his late teens to possibly 40. He said it is estimated the person had been dead six months to a year.
The presence of a bullet does not necessarily mean that the person was shot and killed, Dr. Ohr said, but he added that certainly will be a factor in the investigation.
“It does support some sort of gunplay,” Dr. Ohr said.
Lt. Doug Bobovnyik of the detective bureau said only the torso of the skeleton has been found. It was found in the back of a vacant lot that borders on Trussit Avenue.
Demolition records from the city show the home, 2408 Wydesteel Ave., was demolished in May 2014.
Dr. Ohr said he spent four hours at the scene Saturday looking for evidence and none was found. He said there also appears to be no obvious signs of trauma on the bones, even after they were X-rayed.
Found with the skeleton was a letterman’s jacket, red with black sleeves. The skull also had a pair of headphones on it, Bobovnyik said. The jacket has no lettering on it.
Detectives have been combing through missing-person cases but have found nothing that matches to the skeleton. Since the finding was publicized Saturday, no one has contacted police expressing concern it could be someone who has been missing, said Capt. Brad Blackburn, head of the detective bureau.
Complicating matters is investigators do not have an intact scene to investigate, since the person who found the skeleton disturbed it by taking the skull.
Asked if it would be better for investigators to have an intact scene, Bobovnyik said: “It would’ve been ideal.”
“It’s always better when everything has been left intact,” Bobobvnyik said. “It’s hard to determine how big of an impact him taking the skull is.”
Blackburn said DNA technology may be necessary to identify the person. Dr. Ohr said the upper and lower jaws of the skull are in excellent shape, and dental records could be used to help make an identity.
Police Chief Robin Lees said he will be asking Crime Stoppers to spotlight the case in its next alert.
Dr. Ohr said a member of Youngstown State University’s Anthropology Department who has assisted the office before is expected to help early next week also.