Narrator: up next, a human skeleton is found in the
Marshlands of north carolina.
The longer a body's been dead, the harder it is to
Determine how long it's been dead.
We don't know who she is.
We don't know why she was k*lled.
Narrator: but it tells a story all its own...
Whatever happened to precede death, it probably was sexual.
Narrator: ...a story of anger and hatred...
At what point does a person realize that they're dying?
Narrator: ...and a violent end.
Had this person remained anonymous, we would have had
Nowhere to go.
Narrator: on a cold spring afternoon in ,
Ray lee jacobs found what looked like human bones in the backyard
Of the home he rented in wilmington, north carolina.
It was kind of gruesome.
We came across these bones.
It was horrible.
First we seen her legbones, and then we came across her skull,
You know, and ribs, and, you know, then we realized it wasn't
Fake, it was real, you know, so it was -- it was terrible.
Narrator: he called authorities, who moved quickly
To collect the remains and any possible forensic evidence.
The bones had been scattered by the animals and maybe by the
Tide coming in, 'cause it was a marshland.
It was a dumpsite, and there was a lot of garbage back there.
Narrator: anthropologist dr. Midori albert and her team
Of student volunteers recovered about bones, or % of the
Skeleton.
The victim was a caucasian female, about years old, and
From the length of her femur, about '" tall.
The amount of decomposition indicated she'd been dead for
Approximately months, and it was clear the woman d*ed
Violently.
When I see injuries that were as extensive as this particular
Case, I'm sort of perplexed by what the individual, what the
Victim, was going through while sustaining these injuries and
How long death might have occurred.
Narrator: the woman had a broken nose, broken ribs, and
Had been stabbed with a sharp object numerous times in the
Lower abdomen.
It indicated to me somebody who might have been stabbing or
Mutilating this individual -- stabbed times.
At what point do you just not feel any more s*ab wounds?
Narrator: the lack of clothing found near the remains
Was also telling.
The nudity would indicate a certain behavior pattern that
Would indicate that whatever happened to precede their death,
It probably was sexual.
Narrator: fennell believed it was a clear sign of rage and a
Possible indication the k*ller knew the victim.
He also believed the k*ller was familiar with the area.
Someone who knew that they could get back there and hide
This body there without being seen while they were hiding the
Body.
Narrator: because ray jacobs had lived in the rental home
Only a short time, he wasn't considered a suspect in the
Homicide.
Whoever put the bones there or had done this, you know, I
Was afraid that they would probably come back or, you know,
Show up unexpectedly and -- you know, so I didn't really know
What to think at the time after that.
Narrator: the first order of business was to identify the
Victim, a task that wouldn't be easy.
According to the doe network, an organization that tracks the
Number of unknown victims, there were other cases involving
Unidentified victims in north carolina alone.
Investigators hoped that forensic anthropology could
Narrow the search.
Obviously, in order to do any kind of investigation, you have
To start with figuring out who this person is.
Narrator: the victim found in the north carolina marsh had
Suffered a violent death.
She was beaten, stabbed, and her nude body left in the marsh in
The cold of winter.
But who was this person?
Her remains were laid out in the lab, and she was somebody I
Saw every day.
Every day I'd go in the lab, turn the lights on and work on
Another case, or we'd hold a class in there.
I would look over at her and often wonder how long it was
Gonna take to get any kind of confirmation.
Narrator: investigators had a theory that the k*ller was
Local.
It had to be someone who had some familiarity with that
Particular plot of land.
Narrator: and if the k*ller was local, the victim might be,
As well, so investigators searched missing-persons
Reports for caucasian females living in a -mile radius who
Disappeared in the last months.
This yielded a number of possibilities, but the closest
Match was -year-old scarlett wood.
She was unmarried and living at home so she could care for her
Mother, who was suffering from liver cancer.
On the night she disappeared, she told her mother she was
Going to a party with friends.
It was in january, and it was cold, and I woke up with the
Funniest feeling.
You know how you have a superstition?
I said, "scarlett, I got a bad feeling something's gonna
Happen."
I said, "you just stay here tonight."
She said, "no, I'll be all right."
Narrator: but scarlett never returned.
She was always good about checking in with them, saying
Where she was gonna be if she wasn't gonna be home at a
Certain time.
Narrator: investigators hoped to compare scarlett's dental
Records with the unknown victim.
But their attempt was unsuccessful.
She had dental records, but they were years old, and I
Couldn't find any dentists that kept their records that long.
Narrator: and, initially, scientists couldn't use dna
Testing, either.
They couldn't pull the dna from the remains, from the
Bones.
Apparently, the bones were too dried out.
Narrator: investigators were facing the very real possibility
That their victim would never be identified.
Then, forensic anthropologist dr. Midori albert had an idea.
I'd been familiar with a procedure called "skull
Photo-video superimposition," where you take an actual skull
And you can take a photograph of a person and actually blend the
Two images together, and what we tend to do with that is we look
For different anatomical landmarks and points of
Similarity.
Narrator: unfortunately, the university of north carolina
Didn't have the facilities to perform this procedure.
The hardware and software can cost as much as $,.
So dr. Albert did the next best thing.
She asked one of her colleagues to improvise.
I went to shane baptista on campus, who is a computer guru
And is very familiar with open-source software, which is
Software that is available to anybody as a free download.
Narrator: baptista found a free program called gimp, or
Gnu image manipulation program.
Gimp is an unfortunate acronym -- pretty much, feature
For feature, an equivalent of adobe photoshop.
Narrator: to see if it worked, he performed a forensic
Test on himself.
I sat myself down and set up a web camera on the computer and
Took some photographs of myself at what I tried to get to be the
Same orientation.
Narrator: he superimposed his photo over a plastic skull.
He separated both images into quadrants and looked for
Consistencies in the images.
As he expected, there were none.
I was able to get a creepy image that showed that that
Wasn't my skull, which we pretty much knew.
Narrator: baptista moved on to the ultimate test.
Pictures of scarlett wood were superimposed over the skull of
The m*rder victim.
The similarities were immediately apparent.
When I started messing around with scarlett wood's, it kind of
Lined up pretty quickly, and so the ease of the fit got me
Pretty confident at the outset that we were on the right track.
It's never % conclusive, but it was fantastic because a
Lot of the anatomical landmarks were very consistent.
Narrator: it seemed possible that the victim was
Scarlett wood, although investigators still weren't
% Certain.
But at least they had somewhere to start.
Narrator: with a skeleton found on private property,
Investigators first turned to the property owner and the
Residents as potential suspects.
Investigators learned that there were two tenants living on the
Property at the time of the m*rder, both men in their mid-
To late-s.
They both had some histories with law enforcement, of
Questionable character.
Narrator: the landlord told police the men moved out a year
And a half earlier, which would have been around the time of the
m*rder.
They left in a hurry, leaving behind furniture, clothing.
There was some women's clothing left in the house -- some
Underwear, that kind of thing.
Narrator: hoping for answers, police found one of the men in
Hampstead, north carolina, miles away, and brought him
In for questioning.
The man said he knew nothing about the m*rder and never met
Scarlett wood.
He said he and his roommate weren't getting along and they
Moved out of the rental property after living there only a few
Months.
Just roommates breaking up, money issues.
Narrator: police weren't so sure and sent a forensic team to
Search the house.
All of the floors, walls, and ceilings were sprayed with
Luminol, but they showed no signs of blood.
After interviewing the tenants and the previous
Tenants, we were pretty much at a standstill.
Narrator: next, investigators interviewed all of
Scarlett wood's friends, and her best friend, lynn bollinger,
Said she knew where scarlett was headed on the night she went
Missing.
She said scarlett spent every friday night at a local motel,
Where there was usually a party.
They were at a motel, partying and drinking --
Drinking beer -- and just having a good time.
I believe it was scarlett and three or four other people.
Narrator: police interviewed several individuals who attended
That party.
They said everyone left around : a.m., Except scarlett and a
Friend of hers -- -year-old john wayne boyer.
John boyer is a truck driver.
He actually worked at a couple of different locations here in
Wilmington.
Narrator: boyer no longer lived in the area.
He had been interviewed by police after scarlett
Disappeared.
They were partying and drinking.
Scarlett wanted to leave.
And he said he didn't want her to leave, and she left.
John.
What?
I want you to take me home.
Narrator: boyer said she left around : a.m. On foot.
At the time, no one really believed boyer's story -- that
Scarlett would have walked home, miles away, in freezing-cold
Temperatures.
She was not equipped for the cold.
It was about degrees that night.
I believe she had on just a pair of jeans and a light coat.
Narrator: but john boyer had no criminal history, and he and
Scarlett were acquaintances.
She used to babysit his ex-girlfriend's children, so he
Had a personal relationship with her.
Narrator: scarlett's friends, however, despised him.
My father had his own trucking business, so we knew
About this man.
He was really big, he drank a lot...and he just -- he acted --
He acted fine, but I just -- there was something about him I
Just didn't like, I didn't trust.
Narrator: investigators were able to locate the minivan boyer
Owned at the time of scarlett's disappearance.
We ended up finding that van and doing a search on it, and we
Ended up finding nothing in it.
Narrator: they also searched the hotel room where the party
Took place.
The room was examined for blood.
We used the luminol to determine if there was blood.
Unfortunately, they had redecorated that particular
Hotel room, so some of the furniture was new, but there was
No evidence found of any kind of bodily fluids or blood or
Anything like that.
Narrator: unsolicited, a psychic called, suggesting
Scarlett's body was dumped in an industrial area about a block
Away from the hotel.
Myself and my partner at the time went out to the scene, went
Out and looked around, kicked the bushes, that kind of thing.
Didn't locate anything.
Narrator: again, investigators were at a
Standstill.
They had no dna proof that the skeleton was scarlett wood.
They had no blood evidence to prove that there had been
v*olence in the hotel room or in john boyer's van.
In fact...
They had no evidence at all.
Narrator: using a technique called facial photo
Superimposition, a forensic anthropologist made a
Preliminary finding that the unidentified skeleton was
-Year-old scarlett wood.
But this wasn't an identification that would hold
Up in court.
Investigators had sent the remains to an outside forensic
Laboratory, hoping to get a dna profile.
But for reasons no one can quite understand, the lab was
Unsuccessful.
We would never know for sure who our victim was without the
Dna.
We're not sure why that is, but they just couldn't pull the dna
From the bones, so they just advised us, almost a year and a
Half later, that they just couldn't do it, just couldn't
Find dna.
Nothing seemed to be coming of the analysis.
And after the first year passed, we were quite disturbed and very
Upset about it.
Narrator: undeterred, investigators sent the skeleton
For a forensic second opinion to a private laboratory, this one
In pennsylvania.
There scientists tried drilling into a tooth and found just
Enough tooth pulp to generate a dna profile.
Within three weeks, they came back with a positive
Identification.
Narrator: and with more digging, sergeant john leonard
Discovered that scarlett wood had surgery performed on her
Finger just before she disappeared and that a biopsy
Was performed.
By law, I guess, medically, they have to keep these things
For seven years, I was told.
I had spoke to the doctor who did the operation on her, and he
Advised me that I could go to the place that stored this
Biopsy, and I was able to get it.
Narrator: incredibly, dna testing of that biopsy sample
Matched the dna profile from the victim's tooth.
It was the best news I had heard in a long time.
It's a long-awaited conclusion to a mystery and a very tragic
Death.
When the dna came back and it confirmed that my victim was
Scarlett wood and that john boyer was the last person
To be seen with her, we ended up going to augusta, georgia, and
Interviewing john boyer.
Narrator: at first, boyer repeated what he'd told
Investigators several years earlier -- that scarlett grew
Impatient waiting for him to give her a ride.
She decided to walk home instead and left the motel room around
: A.m.
Sergeant leonard didn't believe it.
And with that, his story changed.
That's when he told me he wanted to have sex.
She said okay, but he couldn't perform.
She was belittling him about him not being able to perform, and
He ended up pushing her.
Yeah, it's cool.
I'm just gonna get going.
Narrator: boyer said scarlett hit her head accidentally
Against the nightstand, but dr. Midori albert believes it's
More likely her head was pushed into the table forcibly.
Prosecutors also believe boyer broke her ribs.
Since it was late, boyer was able to carry scarlett's body
Outside to his truck without attracting notice.
He then took her to the marshy field near the trucking company
Where he worked.
The evidence shows he used some sort of sharp object and
Repeatedly stabbed her, going so far as to mutilate her.
And then he left her there.
I learned a lot from her skeleton, and I believe in death
She made significant contributions.
Narrator: some of the information boyer gave police in
His so-called confession was corroborated by the evidence.
His so-called confession was corroborated by the evidence.
But not everything he said was true.
In april of , john boyer plead guilty to a charge of
Second-degree m*rder and was sentenced to years in prison.
Scarlett's family still have problems accepting the enormity
Of the crime.
He never gave a true story as to what really happened.
So I don't guess we'll ever really know.
I still don't think ms. Wood has got it in her mind
Her daughter's not coming home.
Narrator: investigators also suspect boyer was involved in
The m*rder of -year-old rose marie mallette, which took
Place about a year before scarlett wood was m*rder*d.
When he was the photo, he stopped everything and said, "I
Know her.
She's a prost*tute.
I've had sex with her.
I want an attorney."
So, based on that, on that utterance, he is a suspect in
This homicide, also.
Narrator: but john boyer is now behind bars because simple
Technology available to anyone identified the victim of his
Crime.
Without the initial understanding that we were
Dealing with a female of european descent, of an adult
Age, the investigators wouldn't have known how to target that
Group of missing people.
And, certainly, without the trauma being evidenced on the
Bone such that it was, I'm not sure that there would have been
A conviction.
We'd have never known that was her if it wasn't for the
Forensic evidence.
We'd have never known.
I'm glad we got this guy.
I was really -- still am -- honored to have been a part of
The process and pleased with how the system can stay with it to
Help this unidentified person gain some justice, to give the
Family some peace, and to take this bad guy off the street so
That he's not able to do it again.
12x26 - About Face
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.