LYNNWOOD — Months after a partial skull was discovered at a park in Lynnwood, authorities are asking for help to identify the remains.
On March 24, a homeless man at Scriber Lake Park in Lynnwood discovered a “skeletonized cranium,” or the head and face of a skull, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office. The mandible, or the lower jaw, was missing.
No other remains were discovered, said Nicole Krueger, operations manager for the medical examiner’s office. The homeless man handed the skull to a nearby homeowner and walked away, Lynnwood police spokesperson Maren McKay said.
That man has not been located or identified, McKay said. It was unclear exactly where he discovered the skull.
Authorities believe the remains likely belonged to a Black man over the age of 25, who had been dead for at least one year.
Identifying skeletonized remains is time consuming. Since the discovery, forensic scientists performed dental exams on the cranium, Snohomish County medical investigator Jane Jorgensen said Wednesday. After charting the man’s dental records, scientists entered the results into NCIC, a national FBI database, and NamUS, another missing persons database.
The Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit generated a report of 35 potential matches for every missing person with dental records. There were no hits.
“It’s either a person who’s not reported missing, or they’re reported missing and not in the NCIC or NamUS,” Jorgensen said.
For now, the unidentified man has been dubbed the “Scriber Lake Doe.” Authorities haven’t determined the cause and manner of death.
In May, forensic artist Natalie Murry reconstructed an estimation of the man’s face. Murry has 24 years of experience working with skulls and using advanced reconstructive techniques. Since 2016, she’s collaborated with the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office, providing sketches for the Horace Prescott and Gary Lee Haynie cold cases, among others.
With only part of a skull to work with, Murry used “artistic canons,” a method of drawing a sketch based on characteristics seen in the average person’s face, then extrapolating how he would have looked from unique sections on the skull.
“I don’t want it to be a generic guy, I want it to be this guy, what makes it look like this guy in particular?” Murry said. “Every skull is an individual, every face is an individual.”
Tips can be directed to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office at 425-388-3393. If you know someone who was listed as missing, call the agency that took the report, to ensure they’re still listed as missing.
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
