The Bone Lady: Life As a Forensic Anthropologist

Contents

CONTENTS Acknowledgments / xiii Introduction / i 1 Behind the Levee / 11 2 Lost from the MV Mollylea 122 3 Sis/ 27 4 Kevin Paul / 31 5 Beneath the Corn Crib / 34 6 Under the Porch / 37 1 The Rose Garden / 42 0 Among the Shadows / 45 9 In the Woods / 50 viii CONTENTS 10 The Cast-Iron Coffin / 54 11 Fire in the Sky / 58 12 Lost and Missing Children / 63 13 Capitol / 70 14 Indian Woman / 77 15 Voodoo Woman / 82 16 Prophecy/85 17 The Boat/88 18 Clouds and Horses / 91 19 Bugs / 94 20 The Lake/98 21 The Bat-Wing Filling /101 22 Bayou Bleu /104 23 Who Killed Huey Long? / 107 24 AWitch's Tale/m 25 Duralde's Return /121 26 Civil War on the Bluff /125 27 ForThose Who Wait/133 ILLUSTRATIONS Author with brother Buddy and cousin Danny at railroad switchyard / 3 Human skeleton /10 Examples of perimortem trauma: high velocity versus blunt force /16 Male versus female pelves / 18 Examples of age-related changes in female hip bones / 19 Variation in skull morphology between sexes / 23 Variation in skull morphology among races / 24 ILLUSTRATIONS Animal versus human femora / 28 Infant's coffin / 36 Scale drawings of infant's coffin / 36 Soil removal from area east of the Old Arsenal Museum in Baton Rouge, circa 1930 / 71 Trying to locate old cast-iron coffins on the State Capitol grounds during the 19305 / 74 Old coffins found and reburied on State Capitol grounds in the 19305/75 Photograph and facial reconstructions of young Cuban male, with and without mustache / 89 Alice Penny Taylor's original crypt /113 Scale drawings of Alice Penny Taylor's coffin /115 Plaster cast of Alice Penny Taylor's skull /118 Completed facial reconstruction of Alice Penny Taylor /119 X ILLUSTRATIONS Scale drawings of below-ground vault found in St. Joseph Cemetery , Baton Rouge /12,2, Scale drawings of coffin found in vault at St. Joseph Cemetery /123 Confederate grave marker on bluff at Port Hudson / 126 Testing of depressions associated with Confederate grave markers /128 Military buttons found in soldiers' graves at Port Hudson / 129 Scale drawings of soldiers' burials found at Port Hudson /130 Gun carrier escorted by Civil War reenactors and modern military honor guard transporting coffin to Port Hudson grave site / 131 Flag-draped coffin containing remains of soldiers, from both the Confederate and Union armies, who died during the Battle at Port Hudson /132 Obelisk honoring all soldiers who died at Port Hudson in 1863/132 xi xii ILLUSTRATIONS West Baton Rouge Parish case /134 Ascension Parish case / 134 Calcasieu Parish case / 134 Beauregard Parish case /134 St. John the Baptist Parish case /136 Madison Parish case / 136 ...