PHOENIX – About 45 miles outside of Phoenix, a search for missing field geologist Daniel Robinson found human remains of another individual – but whose remains are these?
Robinson, 24), who went missing in June after leaving a remote location, has not been seen since.
In early August, Robinson’s father and search parties searched the desert near the area where the young man was missing. However, when searching for Robinson, the crews found part of a skull near Cactus Road and Sun Valley Parkway.
WHO IS HE?
With just one skull, an anthropologist working with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office can determine demographics such as gender, ethnicity, and age group.
ME bureau investigators tell ABC15 that an anthropologist determined the remains to be a man who was likely dead for one to five years, aged 20 to 60.
IN HOPE TO IDENTIFY
Christen Eggers of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office receives around 1,000 cases from unidentified people each year – with around one in ten becoming a cold.
Eggers tells ABC15 that the Office of Strangers has a clue to a family that could possibly be related to the partial skull found in Buckeye.
“This is an unidentified person that we have here and it will likely be a missing person,” Eggers said.
A TIP TO RELEASE
Stephen Missal, a forensic artist, uses the tip of a pencil to help solve cases of unknown and missing people. After the anthropologist determines the demographics, Missal will work on creating a visual representation to hopefully identify a person.
Stephen Missal, Medical Office
Missal, who has been with the ME office for 13 years, has helped sketch dozens of unidentified people – many of whom are listed in the district’s Unidentified Persons Bureau.
The website includes a warning that the content may not be suitable for everyone.
Clicking the site allows you to search through 1970 and for jurisdiction throughout the Valley and parts of the state.
Cases are listed with a case number based on the year a person was found, whether the case is active or resolved, and whether there are accompanying photos.
Most of these photos show Missal’s work with his signature – other photos show items found on a person, sometimes including their personal belongings.
Missal, who was a college professor of arts, later became a forensic scientist with his unique skills. Often times the Missal has to take a damaged or incomplete skull to shape the missing one. He will also make tissue depth markings on different facial bones to provide an appropriate resemblance to the person.
Some of the characteristics are hard to spot – like a person’s hair.
Missal sat down with ABC15 on the sketch of the unknown man found in the desert at Buckeye. He said to focus on the features.
“The shape of the face and the size of the eyes, the fact that the nose might be broken, but if not, it’s a little crooked,” Missal said.
Eggers of the ME office said skulls are one of the hardest cases to put together because something could be missing.
Missal tells ABC15 he’s thinking about the cases he’s working on and hoping for positive ID.
“When you’re solving a really difficult problem, I suspect there’s a bit of ego in it, but at the same time it means that you’re not just fooling yourself, you’re actually doing something that works.”
UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS
There are approximately 225-250 cases of cold at the Maricopa County’s Unidentified Persons Bureau. Eggers tells ABC15 that almost half of them are people who were found in the desert.
To view unidentified people, you can click here. If you have any information or recognize these unidentified people, contact the ME office at 602-506-1138.
POSITIVE ID’S
These are some of the sketches that positively identified the ME office
Laura Jean Jordan- After exhausting all other leads, police contacted the DNA Doe Project six months ago in hopes of using an investigative genetic genealogy to identify the woman. The method led detectives to ask the FBI for a partial fingerprint comparison that led to the identification of Laura Jean Jordan.
Case number 82-1246 – The person’s family had seen the possible name and sketch. A DNA sample was taken from the family, which confirmed identification in 2017.
Case number 21-07561- The sketch was seen online by the family and the person was visibly identifiable. Officials compared exam photos and surgical history to confirm identity in 2021.
Case number 20-8700 – Phoenix Police received a lead on a possible name for the person after seeing the sketch on social media. Officials asked the FBI to confirm this using fingerprint information and were identified in 2020.
Case number 13-5530- A social worker called and reported his client missing. A possible sketch match was sent to the social worker, who confirmed with a photo of the person that it was their client. Use of release fingerprints provided by MCSO compared to autopsy prints for identification in 2013.
Case number 10-3664- The person’s family had seen the sketch, as well as separate tattoos, which the person’s identity was verified later in 2017.
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