# Human bones found in back yard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547 "2017-12-29T23:56:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/1 "2017-12-29T23:56:59Z")
[Link](http://fox40.com/2017/12/28/human-bones-found-in-north-highlands-backyard/) In a nutshell: A homeowner who had been letting out a house for the last ten years was cleaning up and renovating after evicting tenants for non-payment of rent and for trashing the house. A human skeleton was found buried in the back yard. Eventually they’ll find out when the person died, and that will lead to suspects. The (presumed) homicide may even be solved. Can any Sacramento-area/NorCal Dopers post here if anything turns up? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/2 "2017-12-30T05:46:27Z")
If it was only a skeleton found (body entirely decomposed), it was probably buried for at least 10-12 years. So it was probably buried before he started to lease the house out. So back when this homeowner was living in the house, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/3 "2017-12-30T07:29:38Z")
He should pray it’s a murder victim, not an archeological site. The former (presuming he has no involvement) means a few weeks of police work and that’s it. The latter… ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/4 "2017-12-30T07:32:31Z")
It doesn’t say how much of the skeleton was found but I’m guessing that absent something specifically identifying the deceased like a wallet or serialized medical implant they’ll do a DNA search and matching dental records against missing persons from the estimated date of death. It’ll be interesting if they have to go so far as a facial reconstruction from the skull. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/5 "2017-12-30T07:56:07Z")
They found some human bones down the street from us in Waikiki earlier this year. A utility crew unearthed them. But they seem to have been a few hundred years old. (The bones, not the utility crew.) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/6 "2017-12-30T15:10:16Z")
On the news last night: [bones in a suitcase](http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/driver-discovers-suitcase-with-human-bones-on-side-of-i-75/670713853). I like the way the report we saw ended: Authorities don’t know if foul play was involved. It’s like the old newsroom advice: write your story and delete the last sentence. It’s either useless or sounds stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/7 "2017-12-30T15:47:39Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > It doesn’t say how much of the skeleton was found… From the link: Investigators dug up more than just bones – they discovered an entire human skeleton. 😉 > [@Projammer](#): > > … but I’m guessing that absent something specifically identifying the deceased like a wallet or serialized medical implant they’ll do a DNA search and matching dental records against missing persons from the estimated date of death. > > It’ll be interesting if they have to go so far as a facial reconstruction from the skull. A wallet, they didn’t mention. They’ll undoubtedly examine DNA samples, but I wonder if they’ll do a digital reconstruction of the face to attract people ton compare the DNA to? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/8 "2017-12-31T00:56:58Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > On the news last night: [bones in a suitcase](http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/driver-discovers-suitcase-with-human-bones-on-side-of-i-75/670713853). > > I like the way the report we saw ended: Authorities don’t know if foul play was involved. It’s like the old newsroom advice: write your story and delete the last sentence. It’s either useless or sounds stupid. There have been at least a couple cases in Thailand where a body was found hanged with hands tied behind the back, and the police refused to rule out suicide. In fact, one case the police did push the suicide theory before walking back on it amid a public outcry. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/9 "2017-12-31T02:52:45Z")
I still remember the case in England where a young man was reported missing from work and eventually the police entered his apartment and found a) the heat had been turned way up to make the room very hot, and b) the young man was stuffed into a small bag-zipped up from the outside. It was unfortunate that the high heat had decomposed the body so much that the police could no longer test for drugs in the body. It just so happened that the individual worked as an office worker in some British intelligence service. The police after considering all possibilities determined that the case was a suicide. They even hired a contortionist to demonstrate that it is (barely) possible to zip up the bag from the inside. Sounds like the southern coroner that looked at the dozens of bullet holes fired by the local police in an “escaping” prisoner and said it was the worst case of suicide he had ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/10 "2017-12-31T04:15:40Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > I still remember the case in England where a young man was reported missing from work and eventually the police entered his apartment and found a) the heat had been turned way up to make the room very hot, and b) the young man was stuffed into a small bag-zipped up from the outside. It was unfortunate that the high heat had decomposed the body so much that the police could no longer test for drugs in the body. > . . . If it’s the case I’m thinking of, he was a [known claustrophilic](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/stuck/201205/turned-tight-spaces). Now yes, that could just be the weakness some enemy chose to exploit, but he really wasn’t all that important, or rich or romantically involved, or in any other way an explicable target for murder. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/11 "2017-12-31T04:24:57Z")
After googling a bit: I think you are talking about Gareth Williams. Not the same case. The young man I’m thinking of had been rescued from the trunk of his own car at least twice by the local fire brigade. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/12 "2017-12-31T17:23:48Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > I still remember the case in England where a young man was reported missing from work and eventually the police entered his apartment and found a) the heat had been turned way up to make the room very hot, and b) the young man was stuffed into a small bag-zipped up from the outside. It was unfortunate that the high heat had decomposed the body so much that the police could no longer test for drugs in the body. > > It just so happened that the individual worked as an office worker in some British intelligence service. > > The police after considering all possibilities determined that the case was a suicide. They even hired a contortionist to demonstrate that it is (barely) possible to zip up the bag from the inside. > > Sounds like the southern coroner that looked at the dozens of bullet holes fired by the local police in an “escaping” prisoner and said it was the worst case of suicide he had ever seen. That sounds really familiar. Is that what the recent British miniseries “London Spy” was based on? ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/13 "2018-01-08T00:21:57Z")
[A man has been arrested for homicide in relation to this case.](http://fox40.com/2018/01/06/man-arrested-for-homicide-related-to-human-bones-found-in-north-highlands/) The victim’s name has not been released, but it looks like the murder was committed in 2015. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/14 "2018-01-08T00:45:10Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > \*t looks like the murder was committed in 2015. Only two and a half years then. Seems a short time in a fairly dry climate for such decomposition. > [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > The victim’s name has not been released… ‘He was the boyfriend of the daughter who lived there.’ So I’m guessing the remains are of a single parent? I wonder if the family that was evicted in November is the same one that lived there in 2015. If so, that might account for the rent problems and the condition of the house. (If not, then it seems Velasquez has bad luck with tenants.) Thanks for the update. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/15 "2018-01-08T12:01:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Only two and a half years then. Seems a short time in a fairly dry climate for such decomposition. They found the bones when they were just clearing away a bunch of debris (well, supposedly, a cat dug it up - cats don’t dig very deep - it sounds as though the grave was especially shallow- that means insects will have taken care of most of the soft tissues. There will have been a considerable stink at some point though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/16 "2018-01-08T15:58:12Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > well, supposedly, a cat dug it up - cats don’t dig very deep. I assumed a [CAT](http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/Caterpillar/C10338641?$cc-g$) dug them up. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/17 "2018-01-08T17:04:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I assumed a [CAT](http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/Caterpillar/C10338641?$cc-g$) dug them up. 😉 That does make more sense. Maybe the news article mistransposed it as just ‘cat’. then again, ‘digging at’ in “…and a cat was digging at an area, and my friend found it…” does sound more like a description of a feline. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/18 "2018-01-08T19:41:00Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > Sounds like the southern coroner that looked at the dozens of bullet holes fired by the local police in an “escaping” prisoner and said it was the worst case of suicide he had ever seen. Or the body weighted down, dragged from the swamp: “Tried stealing more chain than he could swim with”. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/19 "2018-01-08T21:11:52Z")
some of this this reminds me of a old ron shock routiene where he read in the paper in louisana about a guy who was shot in the head and chest 8 times with a single shot rifle … police said it was suicide … he riffed on what a determinied tough sob the deceased was to shoot himself …see he didn’t die load the gun pump it and shoot again … 7 more times … ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/20 "2018-01-12T05:27:46Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > some of this this reminds me of a old ron shock routiene where he read in the paper in louisana about a guy who was shot in the head and chest 8 times with a single shot rifle … police said it was suicide … > > he riffed on what a determinied tough sob the deceased was to shoot himself …see he didn’t die load the gun pump it and shoot again … 7 more times … Sounds like a Thai “suicide.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547.md?page=2)