Wednesday, Jun. 27, 2001

FBI trying to verify missing bones are from Kennewick Man

By Mike Lee Herald staff writer

An expert from the Army Corps of Engineers is trying to make sure bones found in Kennewick last week belong to the 9,000-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man.

"There will be ... scientific testing done on them to verify the conclusion ... that they are Kennewick Man's missing bones," said FBI Special Agent Robbie Burroughs in Seattle.

Meanwhile, the FBI again is investigating possible criminal charges relating to the apparent mishandling of the ancient remains.

The agency took possession of the bones Saturday, three days after Benton County Coroner Floyd Johnson found the high-profile remains in an evidence locker at the Benton County Justice Center.

"I am glad they have turned up," said Jim Chatters, the Richland archaeologist who assisted Johnson with the bones in the summer of 1996. "(Kennewick Man) is not this greatly diminished individual. He's almost all back together."

Michael Trimble, chief curator for the Corps of Engineers, helped pack the bones for the FBI in a "little bit more secure environment" than plastic baggies, said Stephanie Hanna, spokeswoman for the Interior Department, which has helped the Corps determine that the remains should be given to American Indian tribes for reburial.

It's not clear how long the additional scientific testing will take, but Trimble is expected to direct the investigation. After that, it's possible the bones will be reunited with the rest of the skeleton in Seattle.

"We don't know yet what the plan will be until the FBI completes their look at the bones." Hanna said. "They will remain with the FBI as long as the FBI has need of them."

Pieces of Kennewick Man's femurs were reported missing by the Corps in 1998 and were rediscovered when the Benton County Sheriff's Office cleaned out its evidence bunker to make room for an addition to the justice center.

Chatters didn't figure the missing femurs would ever resurface - let alone in the justice center where they were held briefly before the Corps took possession of them. "I pretty much assumed that was the first place that got searched" when the FBI first started investigating the case in 1998, Chatters said.

One question still confounds him: Why were the femur pieces in a separate box from the rest of the skeleton? "I don't see any way it could happen," Chatters said. "I am really a bit baffled."

Chatters said the femurs were the first pieces he packed into the large wooden box that eventually was stored in the justice center. He put them in first because they were the largest and might crush smaller pieces. When the remains were packed, he screwed on the wood lid and gave it to Johnson.

The FBI's work also includes a criminal investigation, Burroughs confirmed. "Certainly," she said, "we will be looking at the circumstances of (the bones') disappearance, if that's what this was, and their resurfacing."

Burroughs would not identify people who were being questioned, though Johnson told the Herald he had talked with the FBI.

Chatters, at least, feels vindicated. He came under scrutiny when the Corps announced the bones were missing. "It's nice to have (suspicion) eliminated completely," he said.