5A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2016
Remains: DNA is ‘not the magic bullet everyone thinks it is’
Continued from Page 1A
the elected attorneys balanc-
ing heavy legal caseloads with
death scene investigations,
decisions about who should
be autopsied, and searches for
next of kin.
As such, Bigelow is part of
the loosely organized nation-
wide network of family mem-
bers, cops, volunteers and
others who try, against long
odds, to match the names of
the missing with the remains
of the unidentifi ed.
There is plenty of work for
them to do. According to the
National Institute for Justice ,
there are as many as 85,000
active missing persons cases
in the U.S. at any given time.
About 4,000 new unidenti-
fi ed remains are found every
year, and about 1,000 of those
have not been identifi ed after
a year. E xperts believe there
are at least 40,000 known
unidentifi ed human remains
in the U.S. NIJ Journal edi-
tor Nancy Ritter has called
the situation “a silent mass
disaster” — a crisis with
casualties that accumulate
continuously.
Recognizing the need for
a centralized source of infor-
mation about missing per-
sons and unidentifi ed and
unclaimed remains, the insti-
tute created the National
Missing and Unidentifi ed Per-
sons System, or “NamUs”
database in 2007.
NamUs lists 565 miss-
ing people in Washington
alone, stretching all the way
back to spring 1951, when
20-year-old Alvin Matlock
disappeared from his home
on Brown’s Mountain in east-
ern Washington. The real
numbers are probably higher
— some disappearances are
never even reported to police,
much less entered into the
national database .
Bones on river banks
The source of so much life,
the Columbia River’s deep
waters and swift currents are
also implicated in a lot of
deaths. According to an ongo-
ing Oregonian analysis, at
least 36 people have drowned
in the Columbia since August
2006.
The river also inevita-
bly tempts individuals faced
with the pressing dilemma of
where to dispose of a body.
In September 2006, a cou-
ple found a large bag fl oat-
ing in the river near Portland.
It contained the dismembered
remains of Doug Adamson,
52. In August 2012, Grant
County, Washington, deputies
recovered 75-year-old Toshio
Ota, a missing Seattle man.
He was the victim of a homi-
cide by blunt-force trauma. In
January 2015, boaters discov-
ered the body of Jessica New-
ton, 40, on Bachelor Island
near Ridgefi eld. She, too, had
died a violent death.
Bigelow knows all about
the misfortune that can wash
in with the tide. In 1998 —
well before he was elected —
a local found a dead woman
on a small island in the river.
To his regret, no one has ever
been able to identify her.
“I am going to keep it
until I can hand ( the remains)
to her next of kin and they
can give them a respectful
burial. There’s someone out
there who’s missing that per-
son … ,” Bigelow said, but
he acknowledged that he has
exhausted all of his ideas for
fi nding her identity.
“I can’t think of a single
thing I can do to contribute to
that investigation,” he said.
In 2013, a beachcomber
discovered an accumula-
tion of bones strewn along
the riverbank. Some of
them appeared to be human,
including a partial skull with
the upper row of teeth still
intact.
Bigelow sent the bones
to Washington State Foren-
sic Anthropologist Dr. Kathy
Taylor, who determined
which were human, and sent
them on to the forensic labo-
ratory at University of North
Texas. Experts there extracted
DNA from the bones, and
entered the results into the
FBI’s Combined DNA Index
System, a database of DNA
records.
Nearly two years after the
discovery, Bigelow and Tay-
lor had an answer: The bones
belonged to 44-year-old
Molly Newton-Waddington,
a beloved but troubled Kelso
mother and wife who was last
seen in Kelso on March 14,
2012. Kelso police continue
to investigate Waddington’s
death, which they consider
suspicious.
‘That was when I
realized the heartbreak’
Coroner duties consti-
tute a relatively small part
of Bigelow’s workload, but
he takes them seriously. By
carefully examining the lat-
est remains, he found a few
clues: The man spent at least
a little time in western Wash-
ington, died after spring
THE DAILY
ASTORIAN
T HURSDAY E VENING
A
(2)
(-)
(-)
(6)
(-)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(12)
(13)
(-)
(20)
(-)
(29)
(30)
(31)
(32)
(34)
(35)
(36)
(38)
(39)
(43)
(44)
(45)
(46)
(47)
(48)
(49)
(50)
(51)
(52)
(53)
(54)
(56)
(57)
(58)
(61)
(63)
(64)
(65)
(162)
L
KATU
KOMO
KING
KOIN
KIRO
KGW
KRCW
KOPB
KPTV
KPDX
KCPQ
TBS
KZJO
ESPN
ESPN2
NICK
DISN
FAM
FMC
LIFE
ROOT
FS1
SPIKE
COM
HIST
A&E
TLC
DISC
NGEO
TNT
AMC
USA
FOOD
HGTV
FX
CNN
FNC
CNBC
BRAV
TCM
SYFY
RFD
(2)
(4)
(5)
(-)
(7)
(-)
(3)
(10)
(12)
(-)
(13)
(20)
(22)
(29)
(30)
(31)
(32)
(34)
(35)
(36)
(38)
(39)
(43)
(44)
(45)
(46)
(47)
(48)
(49)
(50)
(51)
(52)
(53)
(54)
(56)
(57)
(58)
(61)
(63)
(64)
(65)
(162)
6
Missing persons statistics
Since it was founded in 2007, more than 26,000 documented
missing persons cases had been entered into the National
Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as of April,
2016, and more than 10,500 cases had been resolved.
Around 13,300 unidentified persons cases were entered
during the same period, and just 2,150 cases had been resolved.
Number of unsolved disappearances in Pacific County.
Number of unidentified remains cases in Washington.
Men went missing in Washington during the time
when the Pillar Rock man likely died (roughly two
years beginning in spring, 2013, according to NCIC).
Number of unsolved disappearances in Washington.
Year of the oldest unsolved disappearance
in Washington.
Estimated number of missing persons
cases in U.S. at any given time:
85,000
Estimated number of known
human remains in U.S. that
have still not been identified:
40,000
2013, and had probably been
dead for about two years. He
was probably middle-class,
and middle-aged. He prob-
ably died elsewhere, and
his body then traveled up or
down the river with the cur-
rents and tides.
Bigelow sent a detailed
press release to media outlets
and asked the public for tips,
just as he had done in 2013.
“With Molly Wadding-
ton,” Bigelow recalled, “all
we had was a skull. We didn’t
know height, weight, gender,
practically nothing. When
I asked for assistance, the
world called me. Everybody
who was missing anybody.
That was when I realized
the heartbreak — how many
people had people missing.”
Bigelow began to feel guilty
about “giving so many people
hope of closure.”
“They have some particu-
lar person deeply at heart, and
they’re just scanning all the
time, looking, and when they
see one of these things, they
pick up the phone and call,”
Bigelow said.
This time, he was able
to provide more detail in his
release.
“As a result, I got very few
calls, ” Bigelow said. People
are often slow to fi le reports
about people who have tran-
sient lifestyles, but it’s rare
Sources: National Institute of Justice;
National Crime Information Center;
National Missing and unidentified
Persons System
Natalie St. John and Alan Kenaga/
EO Media Group
for a middle-class person’s
disappearance to draw so lit-
tle attention.
“This guy seems like the
kind of guy that people would
be looking for,” Bigelow said.
“He had Vibram-soled shoes
— those things are like $20 a
toe. It’s odd.”
Getting to ‘maybe’
With small staffs and little
technology at their disposal,
rural coroners research cold
cases on evenings and week-
ends, or whenever they can
borrow a few minutes from
the reams of appeals, briefs
and dense county reports that
continuously pile up. And
they seek help wherever they
can fi nd it.
Bigelow took the man’s
teeth to a dentist, who cre-
ated records and turned them
over to the Washington State
Patrol. State patrol , in turn,
entered them into the National
Crime Information Center , an
FBI database. The database
compared the Pillar Rock
man’s tooth charts to records
going back to the 1980s, and
spit out a list of 141 men who
had gone missing in Wash-
ington during the time period
when he likely died. NamUs,
other databases, and tipsters
added still more names to
Bigelow’s
ever-expanding
list.
When investigators ran
Waddington’s DNA profi le
through the FBI’s Combined
DNA Index System , it quickly
found her identity, but such
clear-cut results are fairly
rare.
“Sometimes, you can come
pretty close to knowing,”
Bigelow explained. “Other
times, depending on the qual-
ity of the dental records or
the remains, all you can do is
say, ‘I can’t exclude this per-
son .’” After that, it was down
to Bigelow to fi gure out which
of the many missing men he
could cross off of his list.
Hours upon hours of reading,
dialing, researching, and wait-
ing, waiting, waiting on return
calls, police reports, search
results.
“There’s a lot of detec-
tive work, even when there
are other potential matches,”
Bigelow said.
All over the country, other
investigators are trying to do
the same thing.
“I got a call from a guy
in Phoenix — a detective
— about a guy who appar-
ently disappeared from in
front of a Circle K, leaving
an 18-month-old baby in the
car,” Bigelow said. The Pillar
Rock man’s records looked
like a possible match, but the
timeline was all wrong.
“The baby is now old
enough to drink. It couldn’t
possibly be the same guy.”
Bones, everywhere
Bigelow again called on
Taylor, the forensic anthro-
pologist, for help. In her lab,
Taylor will remove the man’s
remaining fatty tissue, then
examine and preserve the
bones. Just as with Wadding-
ton, she will send samples
away for DNA testing.
A Washington native who
earned her doctorate at the
University of Arizona, Taylor
has worked out of the King
County Medical Examiner’s
offi ce since 1996. Though
it’s a relatively new fi eld, the
demand for her unique ser-
vices is growing.
“Let’s just say I do not lack
for work — I am very busy!”
Taylor said .
Taylor sometimes responds
to scenes when bodies turn up.
People regularly call on her to
‘Everybody should
get a name’
Taylor cautions that DNA
testing is “not the magic bullet
everyone thinks it is.” Frus-
tratingly, sometimes there’s
just not enough to work with,
especially with old, weath-
ered remains.
“What we have to do then
is put it on the shelf and wait
for the technology to get bet-
ter, and then you resubmit it,”
Taylor said. “You never give
up.”
It’s too soon to say whether
this man’s bones will provide
usable DNA, or other clues to
his identity. Without a name,
investigators are unlikely to
ever fi gure out how he died.
Sometimes though, fami-
lies do get answers against
all odds. Taylor and her col-
laborators recently solved a
seemingly hopeless cold case
from 1989. When she fi nally
met the victim’s sister, Tay-
lor’s fi rst words were, “I have
been waiting 20 years to talk
to you!”
“Every one of these people
that are in my care have fam-
ilies and are loved by some-
body. It’s excruciating not to
be able to fi gure out who they
are. You know that they are
being missed. You just don’t
know by whom,” Taylor said.
“You want to return them to
their families. Everybody
should get a name. They came
into this world with a name.
They should leave it with a
name.”
W A NTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
LISTINGS
A - Charter Astoria/ Seaside - L - Charter Long Beach
examine bones, or photos of
bones found around the state.
“A lot of what I’m doing is
evaluating a bone and asking,
‘Is this human?’ Because there
are bones everywhere,” Tay-
lor said. In addition to using
the databases, she works with
police, the media, and other
experts, including a forensic
artist. She also spends a lot of
time talking with the families
of the missing, encouraging
them to do their part to keep
investigations active.
“We really try to explore
every avenue,” Taylor said.
“If you know of somebody
that’s missing, you have to
report them, and you have to
be vigilant to make sure that
somebody is getting them into
the system.”
Evening listings
THURSDAY
J ULY 21
PM
6:30
7 PM
7:30
8 PM
8:30
9 PM
9:30
10 PM
10:30
11 PM
11:30
KATU News
2016 Republican Convention (L)
HattleHots (N)
Greatest Hits ":990-:995" (N)
Wheel of Fortune Jeopardy!
KATU News at 11 (:35) Jimmy Kimmel
KOMO 4 News
2016 Republican Convention (L)
HattleHots (N)
Greatest Hits ":990-:995" (N)
Local Programming
KOMO 4 News
(:35) Jimmy Kimmel
NHC Nightly News KING 5 News
2016 Republican Convention (L)
Spartan "Championship" (SF) (N)
Spartan (SF) (N)
Dateline NHC
KING 5 News
(:35) Tonight Show
KOIN 6 News at 6 CHS Evening News 2016 Republican Convention (L)
Hig Hang Theory Life in Pieces
Hig Hrother (N)
Extra
Ent. Tonight
KOIN 6 News @ 11 (:35) S. Colbert (N)
KIRO 7 News
CHS Evening News 2016 Republican Convention (L)
Hig Hang Theory Life in Pieces
Hig Hrother (N)
The Insider
Ent. Tonight
KIRO News
(:35) S. Colbert (N)
KGW News at 6:00 p.m.
Live at Seven
Inside Edition
Spartan "Championship" (SF) (N)
Spartan (SF) (N)
Dateline NHC
KGW News at 11 (:35) Tonight Show
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Modern Family
Modern Family
Legends of Tomorrow "Left Behind"
H. & Heast "Love Is a Battlefield" (N)
KGW News at 10 (:35) Two 1/2 Men (:05) Two 1/2 Men (:35) King of Hill
(5:00) PHS Convention Coverage "Republican Convention" (L)
Oregon Art Heat Outdoor Idaho
DCI Hanks "Buried"
(:35) DCI Hanks "Ghosts"
6 O'Clock News
Family Feud
Family Feud
Hones (N)
Home Free "Team Teardown" (N)
10 O'Clock News
11 O'Clock News Loves Ray
Mike & Molly
Mike & Molly
Hig Hang Theory Hig Hang Theory FOX 12's 8 O'Clock News on PDX-TV FOX 12's 9 O'Clock News on PDX-TV The Mentalist "The Blood on His Hands" The Mentalist "Red Carpet Treatment"
Name Game
Modern Family
Hig Hang Theory Hig Hang Theory Hones (N)
Home Free "Team Teardown" (N)
Q13 News at 10
Q13 News
Modern Family
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
2 Hroke Girls
2 Hroke Girls
2 Hroke Girls
2 Hroke Girls
Hig Hang Theory Hig Hang Theory Conan (N)
Two and a Half
Two and a Half
The Simpsons
The Simpsons
Modern Family
Modern Family
Q13 News at 9
Hig Hang Theory Hig Hang Theory Friends
Friends
(5:00) Hoxing Premier Champions (L)
E:60
SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter
Hasketball The Tournament (L)
30 for 30 "Requiem for the Big East"
Jalen & Jacoby (N) E:60
Jalen & Jacoby
Full House
Full House
Friends
Friends
Henry Danger
Henry Danger
Crashletes (N)
The Thundermans Open Season 2 (‘08, Animated) Mike Epps, Joel McHale. Full House
(::0) Descendants (:40) Hest Friends
(:05) K.C. Underc.
Liv and Maddie
Liv and Maddie
K.C. Undercover Girl Meets World Liv and Maddie
Stuck Middle (N) Princess Protection Program (‘09) Selena Gomez.
The Parent Trap (:998, Family) Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Lindsay Lohan.
(5:00) Hedtime Stories Adam Sandler.
Pretty Little Liars "Along Comes Mary" The 700 Club
Evil Dead (20:3, Thriller) Shiloh Fernandez, Jane Levy.
(5:00) The A-Team (‘:0, Act) Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson. (:45) The A-Team (20:0, Action) Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Liam Neeson.
My Crazy Ex
My Crazy Ex
My Crazy Ex
My Crazy Ex (N)
I Love "Dirty Talk/ Media Whore" (N)
I Love You ... Hut I Lied
Monster Jam "Atlanta"
ERA Rodeo
Hull Riding Championship
Ken Griffey Jr. :/2 Ken Griffey Jr. 2/2 UFC 185
(5:00) UFC 193
Fox Sports Live
TMZ Sports (N)
Speak for Yourself
Garbage Time
Hest I Heard (N)
Fox Sports Live
TMZ Sports
Cops
Cops
Lip Sync Hattle :/2 Lip Sync Hattle 2/2 Lip Sync Hattle
Lip Sync Hattle
Lip Sync Hattle
Lip Sync Hattle
Lip Sync Hattle
Lip Sync Hattle
(::5) Futurama
(:50) Futurama
(:20) Futurama
(:55) Tosh.0 "Lohanthony"
(:25) Tosh.0
Tosh.0
Tosh.0
Tosh.0
Tosh.0
The Daily Show (N) Nightly Show (N)
Pawn Stars
Pawn Stars
Alone "Into the Abyss"
Alone
Alone (N)
(:05) Mountain Men "The Wasteland"
(:05) Mountain Men "Killer Instinct"
To He Announced
The First 48 "Old Wounds"
The First 48 (N)
The First 48
The First 48 "The Invitation" (N)
60 Days In (N)
(:05) To He Announced
Say Yes-Dress
Say Yes-Dress
My 600-lb Life "Tara's Story"
My 600-lb Life "Brittani's Story"
My 600-lb Life "Pauline's Story"
Skin Tight "Lindsey and Derek" (N)
My Hig Fat Fabulous Life "Fat Jokes"
(5:00) Naked: Countdown/ XL
Naked and Afraid: Countdown to XL Naked "XL Cast Revealed: Darrin Reay" Naked&Afraid XL "Lions at the Gate" Naked/Afr. "South Africa Part 2" (N)
Naked and Afraid "The Danger Within"
No Man Left Hehind "Colombia Vice" Life Helow Zero "Ghosts of Winter"
Life Helow Zero "No Boundaries"
No Man Left "The One That Got Away" No Man Left Hehind "To Hell and Back" No Man Left "The One That Got Away"
Divergent (20:4, Action) Kate Winslet, Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley.
Castle "Significant Others"
Castle "Under the Influence"
CSI: NY "Down the Rabbit Hole"
Pretty Woman (:990, Romance) Julia Roberts, Jason Alexander, Richard Gere.
Pretty Woman (‘90, Rom) Julia Roberts, Richard Gere.
(5:30) Ghostbusters II (‘89) Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray.
(5::5) 2 Fast 2 Furious (‘03) Tyrese Gibson, Paul Walker. The Fast and the Furious (200:, Action) Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker, Vin Diesel.
Queen of the South (N)
Law & Order: S.V.U. "Smoked"
Chopped "Amateurs' Brawl"
Chopped "In-Laws, In Teams!"
Chopped "Fake Cake, Real Stakes"
Chopped
Heat Flay (N)
Heat Hobby Flay Heat Hobby Flay Heat Hobby Flay
Heachfront Hunt Heachfront Hunt Heachfront Hunt Heachfront Hunt Flip or Flop
Flip or Flop
Flip or Flop (N)
Flip or Flop
House Hunters (N) House Hunters (N) House Hunters
House Hunters
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (‘:4) Kenneth Branagh, Keira Knightly, Chris Pine. Sex&Drugs (N)
(5:00) Star Trek: Into Darkness (‘:3) Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine.
Sex&Drugs&Rock Sex&Drugs&Rock Movie
America's Choice 2016
America's Choice 2016
America's Choice 2016
America's Choice 2016
CNN Tonight With Don Lemon
CNN Tonight With Don Lemon
The Kelly File With Megyn Kelly
Hannity
The O'Reilly Factor
The Kelly File With Megyn Kelly
Hannity
On the Record
American Greed: Scam
Greed "The Spy Who Scammed Me"
American Greed "The Bar Girls Trap"
Amer. Greed "Psychic Fiend's Network" American Greed: Scam
Paid Program
Paid Program
Wives NJ "A Very Hairy Christmas"
Real Housewives "The Countess Bride" The Real Housewives "Frozen Assets" Flipping Out "Ready Set Glow" (N)
Wives NJ "A Very Hairy Christmas"
WatchWhat (N)
Flipping Out
(5:00) The Taking of Pelham One, Tw... Dog Day Afternoon (:975, Action) Chris Sarandon, Carol Kane, Al Pacino. (::5) Saturday Night Fever (:977, Drama) Karen Gorney, Donna Pescow, John Travolta.
Shaft (‘7:, Cri)
(5:30) Deep Impact (‘98, Act) Morgan Freeman, Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood.
Live From Comic-Con "Night One" (N) The Hulk (2003, Sci-Fi) Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Eric Bana.
SF Machinery
Small Town
Rural America "WLAC Championship" Steve Lantvit
Rural Eve. News Market Journal
GA Farm Monitor SF Machinery
Small Town
Time Life Library