Suspected Human Remains Found During South Jersey Pool Excavation Could Date Back More Than 100 Years
By Syma Chowdhry
HAMILTON Twp., N.J., (CBS) -- Forensic experts have only scratched the surface when it comes to the human remains found in Burlington County.
Bones were discovered last month when a pool company started digging in a yard in Riverton.
They were about six feet in the ground.
The remains were taken to the state police forensics lab.
Donna Fontana has been working as a forensic anthropologist for more than 30 years.
"Basically like a puzzle, putting a puzzle together," said Fontana.
When she excavated the remains, she was able to determine it could be more than 100 years old.
"The remains are very fragile, you have roots growing through the bones and through the dirt that's surrounding the body," she said.
And once Donna finishes sifting through all the dirt, she will piece all the bones together in hopes of getting as close to this as possible.
"Then determine, if I can, the age of the individual or individuals, the sex of the individuals, their ancestry, perhaps their height," she said.
And if the bones are from more than one body, it would be hard to match them up.
"That may be impossible to tell without doing, say DNA, if you were able to get DNA off of these bones," said Fontana.
People living next door are making no bones about it. They want to know more about the remains.
"It sparks the interest, what the history going back from the 1800's or 1900's," said neighbor Brad Scott.
"Curious to see what went on over there," said neighbor Glenn Smythe.
And Fontana will be working herself to the bone until she learns more about these bones.
"An interesting case because I don't know what I'm going to find," she said.
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