The human skull and other remains found in January near the intersection of 42nd and Wood streets in South Wheeling are likely not evidence of an Ohio County cold case.
Philip Stahl, the public information officer for the Wheeling Police Department, stated today in a returned email, “Based on initial findings, there is no reason to believe this is an old case.”
Stahl did include, “We don’t have further information at this time as we await forensic results.”
The discovery, according to media reports at the time, included a human skull and other skeletal remains that were found by a resident in an overgrown area at the base of a small hillside that leads up to the southbound lanes of W.Va. Route 2.
“The human remains found in South Wheeling back in January are still the subject of an active, open investigation,” Stahl explained. “Detectives are awaiting DNA results from the WV Medical Examiner’s Office in Charleston.”
The state’s Medical Examiner’s Office, according to the agency’s website, handles approximately 10,200 death investigations and conducts nearly 4,000 autopsies each year. The office normally operates with six or seven full-time forensic pathologists and is located in west Charleston, about three miles away from the West Virginia Capitol and Governor’s Mansion.
