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Thread: FBI and Detroit Police to investigate cemetery for missing persons

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    FBI and Detroit Police to investigate cemetery for missing persons

    https://www.wxyz.com/news/fbi-assist...anton-cemetery


    CANTON, Mich. (WXYZ) ? The FBI is currently assisting the Detroit Police Department with an investigation at Canton's Knollwood Memorial Park Cemetery, 1299 Ridge Road North.

    Officers started digging at the cemetery Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into an unidentified persons case. Investigators are taking DNA samples from bodies.

    Assisting with the investigation are the Detroit police, Michigan State Police and federal partners, including the FBI.

    According to a release from DPD, Wednesday was the launch of Operation UNITED, which stands for Unknown Names Identified Through Exhumation and DNA. The program aims to utilize new technologies to identify unknown victims.

    Police say that by using nex technology for exhumation and DNA gathering, they'll be able to "focus on victims of homicide dating back to 1959 that currently do not have DNA on file."

    Dozens of fetuses, infant remains found after police raid on metro Detroit cemeteries
    Canton funeral home not shut down by state, faces restrictions
    Operation UNITED will take place over the next few months in an effort to identified unidentified victims, police say. After the DNA is collected, it will be sent to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS). There is will be processed at their Human Identification Lab and information will be uploaded into a DNA index system, including the FBI's National DNA Index System (NDIS) to be searched against a list of all missing persons.

    In an unrelated investigation, services at Knollwood were suspended in December 2018 after more than 300 fetuses and infant remains were found on the property.

    The December investigation found that Knollwood Memorial Park Cemetery allegedly improperly stored remains of more than 300 infants and fetuses in multiple crypts.

    If you are the family member of a missing loved one, Detroit police are asking that you submit DNA to help identify the victims.

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    https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...ry/1196806001/

    Canton Township — Detroit police officers, Michigan State Police troopers and FBI agents on Wednesday exhumed unidentified bodies buried at Knollwood Memorial Park Cemetery in an attempt to close old homicide cases.

    For 24 years, Knollwood Park had a contract with Wayne County to bury cadavers whose identities were not known, although the state in December suspended all new activity at the burial ground after inspectors say they found more than 300 improperly-stored infant and fetal remains in multiple crypts.

    Detroit police Chief James Craig said Wednesday’s action was unrelated to the cemetery’s closure, which stemmed from ongoing investigations into Detroit funeral homes where police found fetal and infant remains were improperly stored or buried.

    “This is just trying to get closure on old cases,” Craig said. “The identity of these bodies is unknown, and since they were buried, DNA technology has advanced a great deal, so you can go back and take a second look.”

    During Wednesday's operation, investigators exhumed seven sets of remains, Detroit police Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood said.

    Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Sarah Krebs, who heads the state’s missing persons unit, said the exhumation effort is one of the largest operations she’s ever been involved in.

    Krebs said authorities unearthed the remains to collect DNA samples for the victims who were buried without DNA collection. All of the cases involved in the Wednesday effort, she said, were homicides that took place after 1995, when the cemetery began burying unidentified bodies for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.
    The DNA samples will be sent to the University of North Texas for analysis, Krebs said, adding that could take six months.

    “If you have somebody missing and you’re considering that they may be one of these victims, you should definitely call us,” Krebs said. “Our efforts are to identify and more than likely, some of these are going to be unreported missing people.”

    Krebs said there are about 320 sets of unidentified remains throughout the state of Michigan.


    The eight-hour dig began Wednesday around 8 a.m. The FBI’s evidence response team offered technical assistance in examining bodies, Special Agent Mara Schneider said.

    She said the FBI and Detroit police will exhume unidentified remains at other locations over the next few months. “We will exhume remains of victims and DNA samples to bring these unidentified people back to their families,” Schneider said.

    Krebs urged relatives of missing persons to visit the agency with which they may have filed reports in the past.

    “Or if they never reported it, they definitely need to do that now,” she said.

    Individuals can contact the state police’s missing persons unit via email at msp-missingpersons@michigan.gov.

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    https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/cri...e-13876364.php

    CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Detroit and Michigan state police have exhumed unidentified bodies buried at a cemetery to try close old homicide cases.

    Detroit police Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood said investigators exhumed seven sets of remains Wednesday at Knollwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Canton Township.

    Police say they're taking DNA samples from the bones and will try to match them to possible missing persons' cases. Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Sarah Krebs, who heads the state's missing persons unit, says the DNA samples will be sent to the University of North Texas for analysis.

    Detroit Police Chief James Craig says DNA technology has improved since the unidentified bodies were buried.

    Knollwood Memorial Park Cemetery Park had a contract with Wayne County for 24 years to bury cadavers whose identities were unknown.

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