Skull found in remote part of Alaska in 1997 identified as New York man

JUNEAU, Alaska — A cranium that was present in 1997 in a distant space of Alaska has been recognized as a person from New York.

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Alaska State Troopers stated that the person’s demise was possible brought on by a bear mauling, in line with The Related Press.

Genetic family tree was used to assist investigators establish the stays of a person, in line with an announcement Thursday from troopers, in line with the AP. The person was recognized as Gary Frank Sotherden. Sotherden was reported lacking within the Seventies and his final recognized whereabouts had been within the space the place his cranium was reportedly discovered.

“Based mostly on the form, dimension and places of tooth penetrations to the cranium, it seems the particular person was a sufferer of bear predation,” Tim DeSpain, an company spokesperson, stated in an electronic mail Friday within the AP. “It’s not recognized if the bear was the reason for the demise.”

In July 1997, troopers had been contacted by a hunter who had reported discover a human cranium alongside the Porcupine River close to the Canadian border, in line with the AP. Troopers searched the world to seek out different stays however had been unsuccessful. The cranium went to the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Workplace and had been unidentified.

Alaska State Troopers final 12 months requested the medical expert’s workplace to submit bone segments from stays as a part of a chilly case unit to assist establish the stays. Based on the AP, the bone segments went via lab processes to create DNA profiles. As soon as they did, they had been uploaded to a DNA database that was open to the general public.

Resulting from this expertise, investigators had been in a position to make a “tentative identification” and contacted one in every of Sotherden’s kin for a DNA pattern, DeSpain stated, in line with the AP. The relative was notified of the DNA match outcomes on the finish of September.

No additional data has been launched.

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