# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**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 22, 2018, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/21 "2018-01-22T04:31:03Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > The victim’s name has not been released, but it looks like the murder was committed in 2015. [Victim identified](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article194290054.html) as Sager’s roommate, Joseph Michaels, 24. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/22 "2018-01-22T04:52:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > 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.) My BFF’s dad is a farmer, and this happened to him. The land had been in his family for several generations and nobody could remember anyone having been buried there, and law enforcement determined that the bones belonged to a Caucasian man in his 40s who had probably been dead for more than 100 years. Being that this was the Kansas prairie, it makes sense: probably a family passing through in a covered wagon, and Dad got sick, was in an accident, or possibly even died from “indigestion” and was buried there before they moved on. He was later reburied in the county plot. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/23 "2018-01-22T05:08:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Victim identified](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article194290054.html) as Sager’s roommate, Joseph Michaels, 24. someones getting a murder charge … ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/24 "2018-01-22T05:14:52Z")
Or the old joke about an escaped prisoner who died after being shot eight times. The coroner labeled it “natural causes” because if you get shot that many times “naturally you’re gonna die”. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/25 "2018-01-22T07:27:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Victim identified](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article194290054.html) as Sager’s roommate, Joseph Michaels, 24. How much you want to bet it was for really stupid reasons? Maybe I watch too much Homicide Hunter but it seems like people will murder each other over unfathomably petty things. 24 years old, dammit. That’s so young. ---
**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 22, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/26 "2018-01-22T15:21:47Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > How much you want to bet it was for really stupid reasons? Maybe I watch too much Homicide Hunter but it seems like people will murder each other over unfathomably petty things. IKR? I was hoping for something more sinister. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/27 "2018-01-22T16:46:14Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > How much you want to bet it was for really stupid reasons? Maybe I watch too much Homicide Hunter but it seems like people will murder each other over unfathomably petty things. 24 years old, dammit. That’s so young. Oh my goodness, Homicide Hunter and the First 48. I had to quit watching those shows because it was always some young people squabbling over incredibly petty nonsense and winding up dead. Too depressing for me right now. Human bones were found a few years ago at the lot where a friend of mine was building a house. It turned out to be someone they think died during one of the several waves of Yellow Fever. You can’t dig more than a few feet deep anywhere in Savannah and not find bones. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/28 "2018-01-24T23:55:50Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > How much you want to bet it was for really stupid reasons? Maybe I watch too much Homicide Hunter but it seems like people will murder each other over unfathomably petty things. 24 years old, dammit. That’s so young. In that part of town, my guess would be drugs related. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/29 "2018-01-25T00:07:29Z")
Reminds me of another famous case: [Dorothea Puente](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Puente). _On November 11, 1988, police inquired after the disappearance of tenant Alberto Montoya, a developmentally disabled man with schizophrenia whose social worker had reported missing. After noticing disturbed soil on the property, they uncovered the body of tenant Leona Carpenter, 78. Seven bodies were eventually found, and Puente was charged with a total of nine murders, convicted of three and sentenced to two life sentences._ I hope this area does not become famous for this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/30 "2018-01-25T12:32:59Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Or the old joke about an escaped prisoner who died after being shot eight times. The coroner labeled it “natural causes” because if you get shot that many times “naturally you’re gonna die”. Not necessarily. Decades ago I remember a Mike Royko column where some cops in Detroit had cornered a desperate criminal and between shotgun pellets and bullets, he had seventeen holes in him, yet lived. Royko commented, “Shot seventeen times and still alive? Those guys gotta spend more time at the range.” ---
**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 26, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/31 "2018-01-26T19:57:32Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Reminds me of another famous case: [Dorothea Puente](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Puente). > > _On November 11, 1988, police inquired after the disappearance of tenant Alberto Montoya, a developmentally disabled man with schizophrenia whose social worker had reported missing. After noticing disturbed soil on the property, they uncovered the body of tenant Leona Carpenter, 78. Seven bodies were eventually found, and Puente was charged with a total of nine murders, convicted of three and sentenced to two life sentences._ > > I hope this area does not become famous for this sort of thing. That case was a little different…Puente a sweet little old lady who took in elderly borders, killed them, then continues collecting their Social Security checks. It was just like _Arsenic and Old Lace_, but without the elderberry wine (or Cary Grant). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/32 "2018-01-26T20:09:29Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > That case was a little different…Puente a sweet little old lady who took in elderly borders, killed them, then continues collecting their Social Security checks. It was just like _Arsenic and Old Lace_, but without the elderberry wine (or Cary Grant). Or [Randolph Scott.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eVnmffpGFMY/Udjsms0C6aI/AAAAAAAALdY/0UQWV_trGsY/s1600/cary+n+r+1.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/33 "2018-01-26T21:46:31Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > That case was a little different…Puente a sweet little old lady who took in elderly borders, killed them, then continues collecting their Social Security checks. It was just like _Arsenic and Old Lace_, but without the elderberry wine (or Cary Grant). Oh, yes, it is different in many ways, but similar with the burying murder victim(s) in the yard. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547/34 "2018-01-27T00:57:32Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > In that part of town, my guess would be drugs related. Lt. Joe Kenda’s advice if you want to not be murdered: Don’t become involved in the trafficking or sale of narcotics, don’t hang out in bars after 2am, and be careful who you marry. Not blaming the victims, just speculating on the most common causes or murder. It really does seem to come down to those three things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-bones-found-in-back-yard/805547.md?page=1)