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The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification is a national resource for the identification of missing and unidentified persons at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. UNTCHI combines the services of a forensic DNA laboratory, a forensic anthropology laboratory, and the Forensic Services Unit (FSU). The center operates the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and Project EDAN which helps identify human remains.
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Linda Marie Pagano, formerly known as Strongsville Jane Doe, was an American murder victim from Akron, Ohio who was an unidentified decedent for 44 years. Following an argument with her stepfather on September 1, 1974, Pagano left her stepfather's apartment and was never seen again. On February 5, 1975, partial skeletal remains of a white female were found by three boys in a park in Strongsville, Ohio. After remaining unidentified, the bones were buried in an unmarked grave. Due to a clerical error, the bones were never entered into databases of unidentified decedents, and the case was largely forgotten about. In 2016, a college student doing genealogy research of her own family rediscovered the unidentified body. After posting about it online, the case gained the attention of Carl Koppelman, a forensic sketch artist. The new attention to the case led to a connection being made by the Akron police, and in June 2018 the remains were conclusively identified as Linda Pagano.
References
- ↑ Augenstein, Seth (12 December 2017). "NamUs Law in New York Makes State 4th to Require Entries". Forensic Magazine. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ↑ Boncek, Marianna (August 2017). "NamUs and the Law (or lack thereof.) | Marianna Boncek" . Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ↑ "'Francine's Law' for missing persons signed by Gov. Stitt". 2 News Oklahoma. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ↑ "About NamUs". www.namus.gov. Retrieved 2018-06-15.