TWO RIVERS (NBC 26) — Forensic science professor, Joe LeFevre is weighing in on the recent human remains found in the town of Two Rivers.
- Forensic science professor, Joe LeFevre says we might need to wait awhile before the remains are identified.
- He says even with a match, there is a large backlog of DNA testing in Wisconsin.
- Manitowoc County Sherrif's Department has not confirmed if the remains are connected to Elijah Vue.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
A question I'm hearing a lot right now along our lakeshore communities, how long will it take to identify human remains discovered just days ago in the Town of Two Rivers. We’re looking more into the identification process.
Joe LeFevre is a forensic science instructor at Fox Valley Technical College. He's weighing in on Saturday's discovery in the town of Two Rivers.
"First thing is going to be, how long have the remains been there,” LeFevre said.
The Manitowoc County Sheriff's office called the findings skeletal remains.
"That means there's probably not much biological tissue there,” Lefevre said. “It's mostly just the skeleton, there could be some flesh."
The sheriff's office won't comment on the possible age or gender of the person. The office did say it's unable to confirm if this is related to the case of Elijah Vue, the little boy who disappeared from Two Rivers in February.
LeFevre says identification could take awhile.
"We do talk about the ‘CSI effect’ in class here regularly,” he said. “Folks expect that you can go to commercial break and come back and results will be there."
He says extracting DNA, getting a sample to compare and running tests all take time. But the longest wait could be the backlog of DNA testing in the state of Wisconsin.
"We could be waiting three or four months,” LeFevre said. “I hope not, but it's possible."
He says that's the case, even if they can test a match for the DNA.
"If we don't have any reliable missing persons or unaccounted for hunters over the last few years, it could never be identified,” said LeFevre.
The Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office is working with the state and other law enforcement on the case. But at this time, both Manitowoc County and the state crime lab were unable to share any more information about this discovery.
The Two Rivers Police Department said Tuesday that they are continuing to work with the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office and the Wisconsin DCI.
