All’s quiet on the Pocatello killings lately. The retired detective I talked to sure had a good theory, and evidence from the night he was working when it happened. I personally think they know who did it but haven’t been able to prove it. I’d love to say more but like everyone else, I sit back and read the paper for the latest news.

Our taxes are paid with this in mind, that we all deserve the time of the forensics lab, even those of us who might be unknowns. To assume that because the deceased are transients or homeless, they are therefore not important, diminishes us all.

Solvable cases are more sexy and get you votes, I guess. Importance of the victim, or publicity value, does not solve crimes. JonBenet Ramsay and Natalee Holloway are real reminders.
That being said, I understand there would be priorities, that current solvable cases would take precedence over ‘cold’ cases. And, the poor labs that are so short staffed and overworked, that in itself seems to be a crime to me.

What about thinking outside the box on this one? You find old bodies that aren’t on anyone’s immediate list, why couldn’t a lot of forensic evidence be turned over to schools that are training new staff in this area to use for on-the-job learning? Of course they’d need to retain some of the dna/proof for legal purposes, assuming the students managed to come up with leads. Or at least have protocols that allow the leads they come up with to be legally valid.

I know they have the decomposition cadaver fields for forensics training, but seems they could use the experience on real situations, too.

Sure, the families of those whose bodies would be found would probably say the cost is worth it…but would the rest of the taxpayers?

I have to wonder whether the average citizen understands what goes into identifying a body, let alone finding a body, and that all of it costs money. Idaho has quite a few unsolved missing persons cases, but I’m sure many of you saw the PR article about how understaffed (due to lack of money) the state forensics lab is and that the turnaround for information is often outside of 6 months.

The state is going to try to solve the cases that are most likely to be solved and get a conviction - they are the ones in the citizens’ best interests overall.

Finding a body is expensive. Finding names of missing individuals who are possible matches is expensive. Actually identifiying that body with any of the possible matches is also very expensive. And after all of that it’s entirely possible that none of the identified matches are in fact a match.

That’s why I have to wonder at the “worth” of excavating the Manson ranch, in particular if it dips into California’s taxpayer dollars since the bodies are very likely not from California. The bodies of hitchhikers could be from New Jersey, Texas, any other state *or* any other country…taxpayers are not likely to want to endorse spending their money on that endeavor. An unfortunate part of being seperated into states.

I am awaiting to see what happens with the Cindy Bringhurst murder investigation. She was the babysitter who disappeared, body found later. A now retired detective told me his theory on who did it and I hope something comes to light sometime. The police keep tempting the media with how close they are to solving those old murders, but nothing seems to come of it.

I, too, agree the families of those buried on Manson’s old stomping grounds need to have some sort of closure, if indeed they can figure out who any of the remains belong to.

Okay switching serial killers here: Anyone know about the girl who disappeared from a junior high in Pocatello when Ted Bundy was roaming the NW corridor? I have read many books on the subject; some state affirmatively that she was a victim of Bundy, but he denied it, even at the end when he was confessing to everything to avoid the chair; curious if anyone was around Poky at the time? That was before my time but I just wondered. Such a small town and yet all these odd murders/disappearances in Poky: Jerilyn Underwood, Nori Jones, the girl from the junior high……….

I’d hate to have a loved one missing for all these years and have the police have leads that they choose not to follow up on because they are short staffed or under budgeted or feel it’s not going to get them a collar or conviction, or they won’t be able to identify the remains. (Not worth it, as you wondered.)

Good article. I was in LA/Orange Co during those years and it was pretty scary when all hell broke loose. We ran away to Idaho in 1970 (had vacationed here earlier) to get away from the craziness.

Anyone know if this technology can be used here in Idaho? We have a few missing persons that we may be able to find with this technique…