Remains of 8 People Found in Woods, FL

Remains Of 8 People Found In Fla. City POSTED: 5:48 pm EDT March 24, 2007 FORT MYERS -- Skeletal remains of eight people were found in southwest Florida woods, and investigators believe the bodies have been there for several years, police said. The skeletons, which had no skin or clothing, were found Friday in an unlit wooded area about 25 feet from an unpaved section of an east Fort Myers street, Fort Myers police Lt. Brian Phillips said. Investigators were working to identify the bodies and were handling the deaths as homicides unless they find evidence to the contrary, police said. No trauma was evident, Phillips said. An ecologist who was surveying a 10-acre lot for a developer discovered the bodies, police spokeswoman Shelly Flynn said. At first, police thought there were three skeletons, but a search turned up five more within a 50-yard radius, detectives said. Police estimate the bodies have been in the woods for several years, but it was not yet known how they got there. Technicians from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement collected physical evidence Friday, Flynn said. The skeletons will be taken to the medical examiner’s office, where pathologists will try to determine a cause of death. http://www.local6.com/news/11362755/detail.html

Remains Of 8 People Found In Fort Myers Woods Land Survey Turned Up Skeletons POSTED: 11:04 am EDT March 24, 2007 UPDATED: 7:40 pm EDT March 24, 2007 FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Skeletal remains of eight people were found in a wooded area, where investigators believe they had been for several years, police said. The remains, which had no skin or clothing, were found Friday in an unlit wooded area about 25 feet from an unpaved section of an east Fort Myers road, Fort Myers police Lt. Brian Phillips said. Investigators were working to identify the bodies and were handling the deaths as homicides unless they find evidence to the contrary, police said. No trauma was evident, Phillips said. An ecologist who was surveying a 10-acre lot for a developer discovered the bodies, police spokeswoman Shelly Flynn said. Police first thought there were three skeletons, but a search turned up five more within a 50-yard radius, detectives said. Police estimate the bodies have been in the woods for several years, but it was not yet known how they got there. Technicians from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement collected physical evidence Friday, Flynn said. The medical examiner's office will try to determine a cause of death. Investigators also will sift the dirt where the remains were found to see whether bullets might have fallen from the bodies, police said. "It certainly sounds like a dump site," said Charlie Mesloh, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Florida Gulf Coast University and a former police officer. "But having said that, you would now have to determine whether they were murdered and dumped, killed at that location and left there or just bodies illegally disposed of." Mesloh said there have been cases in which cremations were paid for but never done, and their loved ones' bodies were dumped in undeveloped areas. An old grave site is another possibility, although the absence of coffins works against that explanation, he said. The remains of two men were found in a wooded area of North Port in 1996. It was determined they had been murdered, police said. A serial killer was suspected, but no one was ever charged. http://www.news4jax.com/news/11362000/detail.html

Detectives Wonder If Serial Killer Left Skeletons In Fort Myers Forensics Experts Search Dirt, Debris For Clues POSTED: 11:00 am EDT March 29, 2007 E-mail this story | Print this story Sign Up for Breaking News Alerts FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The discovery of eight human skeletons in a remote, wooded area just east of downtown has authorities quietly wondering whether a serial killer might be at work. Using wire screens and keen eyes, forensics experts are sifting through dirt and debris for clues. The investigation has taken on the look of a "CSI"-like television crime mystery -- only it won't be solved in an hour. A forensic anthropologist is studying the bones and reconstructing them like pieces of a puzzle. A botanist and an entomologist will examine plant growth and insects at the site to determine how long the remains have been there. And detectives wait for answers. Who are they? Were they murdered? And if so, is there a mass killer on the loose? Theories abound from a shady crematorium dumping bodies to an old cemetery, but the most obvious, and frightening, is at the forefront of investigators' minds. "If it was a body dump by a funeral home, they probably would have dumped them all in one place, and these are not on top of each other. They're spread around," said Karen Cooper, supervisor of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Fort Myers crime lab. "I think we're more likely dealing with a serial killer or something of that nature ... That's what's on the top of people's minds." The skeletons were found down a dirt road in an area covered in scrub and brush in an industrial section just a few miles from downtown and several miles from Interstate 75. The first was found last Friday by a surveyor checking the land for potential development. Authorities were called, and soon seven other skeletons were discovered in a 200-yard radius. No clothing or personal items were found; no flesh remained, just bones. The bodies, believed to be adults, were not buried, but appear to have been placed on the ground. Cooper said the bones also appear to have been chewed on by animals. Investigators with the Fort Myers Police Department are keeping mostly mum so not to scare residents of this southwest Florida town known as a warm-weather haven for retirees and spring-breakers and for white sugar-sand beaches and gently lapping Gulf of Mexico waters. "I've heard probably 10 different theories thrown around out here, everything from an old cemetery to some alien thing," said Lt. Brian Phillips, head of the department's major crimes unit. He stopped short of mentioning murder. "Who knows what we'll find in the next week or so," Phillips said. Heather Walsh-Haney, a forensic anthropologist from Florida Gulf Coast University, has been on the crime scene sifting through dirt for evidence and bones, and is helping to reconstruct the bodies to determine age, gender, race and cause of death. Investigators are looking for nicks and cuts on the bones that could have been made by a knife or a bullet. Walsh-Haney said a cause of death will be difficult to determine absent any tissue or internal organs, and it's unclear how long the bones have been there. "In Florida, because of the humid environment, you can get to a skeleton within a few weeks," she said. Experts say it's not uncommon for a serial killer to dump their victims on the same site or within the same type of terrain. Daniel Conahan was sentenced to death in 1999 for the strangulation murder of a homeless man whose body was found in a swampy, wooded area north of Fort Myers. Conahan is also suspected in a string of other deaths - dubbed the Hog Trail Murders because of the wooded locations where the bodies were found in Charlotte County in the mid-1990s. Those cases remain unsolved. Local authorities would not speculate on whether they suspect the skeletons may be connected to Conahan, but Copper said there's always a possibility. "It's hard to say until we get an idea of what time frame we're talking about here," she said. John Douglas, a former FBI profiler and expert on serial killers, said the absence of clothing and personal affects with the skeletons leads him to believe it's most likely a "serial murderer grave yard." "To find eight bodies in one place, that's really bizarre," Douglas said, adding that federal authorities estimate there are up to 50 serial killers operating at any given time in the U.S. "If you're in the business of killing people, that's a great disposal area. You've got the remoteness, the elements, the heat, the insects, animal predation. You put a body out there and probably within a week or so, there's not going to be much left," Douglas said. "You would be talking about a person who is a very careful killer." Previous Story: March 24, 2007: Remains Of 8 People Found In Fort Myers Woods http://www.news4jax.com/news/11436584/detail.html

Fort Myers Bones Linked To South Florida? Skulls, Bones Discovered Last March POSTED: 6:18 pm EDT June 19, 2007 UPDATED: 10:44 pm EDT June 19, 2007 FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A surveyor working in a remote wooded area near an industrial site in Fort Myers found a single human skull last March. He immediately called Fort Myers police. "What was going through my mind was that this was an overwhelming task that was really going to tax our resources," said Lt. Brian Phillips, who arrived at the scene. As Phillips and other policeman looked around the site, they found more bones and then more skulls. Before they were finished they would find the skeletal remains of eight men, all white, ranging in age from 18 to 49. Estimates are the earliest body had been there since 1980 and the most recent left in the year 2000, Local 10 reported. There was no attempt made to even bury the bodies, they were just dumped, police said. "It turned into an overwhelming investigative task that our agency was going to have to handle," said Philliips. The tie to South Florida? Some theories are that the bones are those of South Florida mobsters who were brought to the area to die. Another theory is that this was the work of the Hog Trail killer. In 1999, Daniel Conahan was sentenced to death for the murder of a homeless man whose naked body was found in a similar area of Fort Myers. He was suspected in a string of other killings -- cases that to this day remain unsolved, Local 10 reported. But police first must learn who the victims are, then try to determine how and why they died. Police are getting help in identifying the remains from a forensic dentist and from an anthropologist who helped identify bodies from Hurricane Katrina, but so far they've had no luck, Local 10 reported. http://www.local10.com/news/13532704/detail.html

Fort Myers officials seek help in identifying skeletal remains FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Fort Myers officials are seeking help in identifying eight skeletal remains. Police say the people whose skeletal remains were discovered in March were all white men who died sometime between 1980 and 2000. They were all between the ages of 18 and 49. Police Sergeant Jennifer Soto says they're treating this as a criminal matter, but that there is no immediate cause for concern. Police aren't saying how the men might have died. But investigators are still working on a variety of theories. One is that the remote site, down a dirt road in an industrial section of the city near Interstate 75, was a dumping ground for a serial killer. http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=56501

Sep 11, 5:27 PM EDT Investigators turn to forensic sculptor in skeleton mystery By BRIAN SKOLOFF Associated Press Writer FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Discarded like trash, eight bodies went unnoticed for years in a thicket of trees and scrub, on the edge of downtown. When they were discovered in March, nothing remained but bones. Six months later, authorities still know precious little about the skeletons, other than they were white men between the ages of 18 and 49 and died as far back as 1980. Detectives say their best hope for solving the case now rests with a forensic sculptor who will try to reconstruct their faces. Authorities hand-delivered the eight skulls to Sharon Long last month in hopes that her work will help determine their identities. "When I'm working on them, I'm thinking about that person being loved, loving someone, being born, going to school, going through their lives, because they are real people," Long said. "It's a deep emotional thing, especially when the face starts showing up." A surveyor found the first skeleton. Police soon uncovered seven others nearby. No flesh remained on the bones, which appeared to have been chewed on by animals. There were no clothes or personal items, either. Investigators have weighed a number of theories, including whether the skeletons could be the work of a serial killer or remains dumped by a crooked mortician. A forensics lab in Texas is working to extract DNA from the bones, but until detectives identify the remains, there's no trail to follow. "Identification is critical. Without that, there really is no investigation," Detective Barry Lewis said. That's why investigators are depending on Long, 67, of Laramie, Wyo., who has degrees in art and anthropology. She has made busts for the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian, helped reconstruct the faces of mummies and recreated faces of some of the first settlers' remains discovered at Jamestown. She begins by painting the skulls with latex. "When I peel off the rubber, I have an exact replica of their skull, every little pockmark," Long said. A plaster bust is then made from the latex mold. Long places eraser tips on 21 points that mark tissue depth and uses clay to form the face. Lips are designed by measuring the front six teeth. "If you have really big teeth, then your lips are going to be thicker," Long said. The nose can be tricky. She uses the bony protrusion at the base of the nasal cavity to determine form. "If it's pointing slightly down, the guy's going to have kind of a hook nose," she said. For the ears, Long draws a straight line across the head just above the eyebrows. "That's the top of the ear, and then you draw a line from the bottom of the nostril straight across, and that's the bottom," she said. "If you have a short, stocky, stubby nose, your ears are going to be shorter. If you have a big nose, you'll have bigger ears." Each face takes up to 70 hours to complete. Once she finishes all eight, police plan to release the images nationwide hoping that someone recognizes them. "I think I'm going to be somewhere between 90 and 100 percent accurate," Long said. Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that the skeletons are victims of Daniel Conahan, who was sentenced to death in 1999 for the strangulation of a drifter. That man's body was found in some woods in neighboring Charlotte County. Conahan is also suspected in at least five other slayings of young men dubbed the Hog Trail Murders because of the swampy, wooded locations where the nude bodies were found in the mid-1990s. Those cases remain unsolved. Conahan was also once accused of kidnapping a man in Fort Myers in the early 1990s. The victim accused Conahan of luring him into a wooded area - within miles of where the eight skeletons were found - and trying to strangle him, but he escaped. However, until the skeletal remains are identified, detectives are not questioning Conahan, who maintains his innocence. Fort Myers police have been reluctant to release too many details about the case to avoid scaring residents of this southwest Florida community known for its white sugar-sand beaches and as a warm-weather haven for retirees. Detective Sgt. Jennifer Soto said if the skeletons are the work of a killer, the suspect is likely long gone. "There's no reason for public alarm," she said. --- Associated Press researcher Judith Ausuebel contributed to this report. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_SKELETON_MYSTERY_FLOL-?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME

Remains identified as those of men missing for more than 10 years THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Remains of two men missing for more than 10 years have been identified, police said Tuesday. Erik D. Cohler, 21, of Port Charlotte, and John C. Blevins, 38, of Fort Myers, were identified by comparing DNA from the bones to DNA from their families, Sgt. Jennifer Soto told the Charlotte Sun Herald. Their remains were among eight skeletons found in March at a remote site - down a dirt road in an industrial section of the city near Interstate 75. Cohler disappeared in October 1995, according to a missing persons report filed in 1999. Blevins was never reported missing, Soto said. His family members contacted police after hearing the eight skeletons were discovered. Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that the skeletons are victims of Daniel Conahan, who was sentenced to death in 1999 for the strangulation of a drifter. That man's body was found in some woods in neighboring Charlotte County. Conahan also is suspected in at least five other slayings of young men dubbed the Hog Trail Murders because of the swampy, wooded locations where the nude bodies were found in the mid-1990s. Those cases remain unsolved. Conahan was once accused of kidnapping a man in Fort Myers in the early 1990s. The victim accused Conahan of luring him into a wooded area - within miles of where the eight skeletons were found - and trying to strangle him, but he escaped. --- Information from: Charlotte Sun, http://www.sun-herald.com">http://www.sun-herald.com Last modified: November 20. 2007 9:51PM http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071120/APN/711201002

Erik David Kohler Kohler, 21, disappeared from Port Charlotte, Florida sometime during October 1995. In March 2007, the skeletons of eight individuals were found in the woods off Arcadia Street in Fort Myers, Florida, the possible victims of a serial killer. One of the bodies was identified as Kohler's in November 2007; another was identified as another man who vanished in 1995. The other six remain unidentified. Source Information: WINK News http://www.charleyproject.org/resolved.html

Police: 8 victims all murdered Reported by ABC7 News Posted on: Friday, January 18, 2008 FORT MYERS: The Fort Myers Police Department says the eight victims whose skeletons were found in a field off Arcadia Street last March were murdered. They will not release the cause of death for any of the victims because they fear it could compromise the investigation. The announcement was made during a press conference where the Fort Myers Police showed a forensic artist’s facial reconstruction of each victim, including the two who have already been identified. Sharon Long, a forensic artist in Wyoming, created the facial reconstructions. (see reconstructions at end of story) On March 23, 2007, a geologist working in a wooded area off Arcadia Street found a human skull and contacted Fort Myers Police. During the course of the next few hours, police continued to unearth human remains. By the end of the day, they had found eight sets of skeletons. On June 8, 2007, the Fort Myers Police held a press conference to seek help identifying the victims. They revealed they were treating the find as a criminal matter. At the press conference, Forensic Anthropologist Heather Walsh-Haney revealed the skeletons were placed at the Arcadia Street site sometime between 1980 and 2000. All of the men were between the ages of 18 and 49 and were between 5’0" and 6’4". She then provided specific details about each victim. In November 2007, Fort Myers Police revealed two of the victims had been identified. Victim four was identified as John Blevins and victim five was identified as Eric Kohler. The national television show America’s Most Wanted paid for the facial reconstructions revealed on Friday. It also plans to profile the case on Saturday, January 17. Friday’s press conference was the first time police confirmed the men were murdered. They would not comment on the theory they were all victims of a serial killer. In June, after some investigating, we discovered the location where the eight sets of remains were found has ties to alleged serial killer Daniel Conahan. In August 1994, a Fort Myers drifter, Stanley Burden, filed a police report saying he had been taken to a wooded area off Rockfill Road in Fort Myers where he was assaulted by a white male, later identified as Conahan. The general area where Conahan allegedly took Burden is within about a mile of where the eight skeletal remains were found in March 2007. There are other similarities as well. Although Conahan was only convicted of Richard Montgomery’s murder, he is suspected of killing five other men, all between the ages of 21 and 45. The bodies of the men Conahan is suspected of killing were all found nude in remote or wooded areas. Authorities say the bodies in Fort Myers were absent of any clothing, and a forensic anthropologist determined all were white, or possibly Hispanic, males aged 18-49. Conahan continues to deny killing anyone. He's on Death Row at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida. He has been in prison since January 10, 2000. If you have any information on this case, contact Crime Stoppers at 800-780-TIPS. You can remain anonymous and could earn a cash reward. **To see facial reconstructions of each victim, please go to link below** http://www.abc-7.com/articles/readnews.asp?articleid=16962&z=2&p=

Tipsters around the country calling about "bones" case Related News National TV show produces leads in Ft. Myers bones case Sunday, January 20, 2008 Police: 8 victims all murdered Friday, January 18, 2008 Police to discuss new details in bones investigation Friday, January 18, 2008 Artist gives faces to victims in Ft. Myers bones case Wednesday, January 16, 2008 America's Most Wanted to profile Ft. Myers bones case Thursday, January 10, 2008 Southwest Florida's top stories of 2007 Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Two of eight skeletons found in Fort Myers identified Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Sculptor giving faces to 8 skeletons found in Ft. Myers Wednesday, September 12, 2007 New clues revealed in Ft. Myers bones case Thursday, July 05, 2007 FMPD treating skeletons as criminal matter Friday, June 08, 2007 Location of bones hints at serial killer link Friday, June 08, 2007 Search ongoing at site where 8 skulls found Monday, March 26, 2007 Police keep digging after remains found Saturday, March 24, 2007 Eight skulls, skeletal remains found in Fort Myers Friday, March 23, 2007 LEE COUNTY: Fort Myers detectives are following up on what they call credible leads in the "Fort Myers bones" investigation. More than 100 tips have poured in over the past week, and they say finding answers now is more important than ever. Fort Myers Detective Barry Lewis says tips have come in from across the country. "New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas," said Lewis. "Tennessee, Florida obviously, even Ontario." Callers all watched the episode of America's Most Wanted episode that detailed the case and recognized one of the faces. Most of the tipsters are family members of missing men. Four of the most promising leads revolve around one of the missing men who has been referred to as "H." Detective Lewis spoke to a woman who could potentially be H's sister. "She was resigned to believing that this was her brother," said Detective Lewis. Lewis says the woman is from Florida, but not local. She'll receive a DNA kit Friday. When she does, she'll swab her mouth and send the kit off for testing. A potential match could take six weeks, minimum. Two other kits are on the way to Tennessee for family testing, people possibly related to the person matching face "F." Detectives have already identified two of faces and John Blevins and Eric Kohler. Both men led transient lives. But Detective Lewis stresses all of the victims could be very different. "Those other six could be well off individuals," said Lewis. "They could be from all walks of life. It wouldn't be prudent to evaluate, just based on the two, what the other six did." Lewis says they know even less about the murderer that committed the crimes. But tips about potential suspects have also started to come in. "A certain individual knew somebody that lived in the area, very suspicious, dangerous, and very capable of committing a violent act," said Detective Lewis. Detectives say Charlotte County convicted murderer Daniel Conahan has not been ruled out. But they say he is not a suspect or a person of interest. http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=17103&z=3&p=

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