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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The remains of a woman whose decomposed body was found wrapped in a blanket and doused in sulfuric acid alongside a local highway in 1973 will be exhumed and shipped to a Florida university, where investigators hope a modern-day examination will shed light on the more than four-decades-old cold case.</p><p>The woman&#8217;s identity was never determined, but the presence of the acid and manner in which the body was found led investigators to long consider the death &#8220;highly suspicious,&#8221; according to a petition to exhume the body filed Friday in Luzerne County Court.</p><p>Judge Tina Polachek Gartley granted the petition allowing county investigators to exhume the body, which is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery in Hanover Township, and send it to forensic anthropologist Dr. Erin Kimmerle at the University of South Florida for an examination using current methods, the petition says.</p><p>Investigators believe modern forensics could propel the 43-year-old case forward, but they must first uncover the woman&#8217;s identity.</p><p>&#8220;With the new technology we now have, that we didn&#8217;t have in 1973, there&#8217;s a good chance this woman may be identified,&#8221; Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said Friday.</p><p>The cause of the woman&#8217;s death stumped local investigators at the time.</p><p>A report published Aug. 10, 1973, says the body was discovered the day before about 100 feet off of Interstate 80 in Black Creek Township by a traveler who stopped to take a walk in the nearby woods. The woman, a black female, was between the the ages of 21 and 30, was about 5 feet tall and weighed about 100 lbs., according to the report.</p><p>&#8220;She was attired in a blouse, shorts, and slippers,&#8221; the report says.</p><p>An examination at the time by Luzerne County Coroner Dr. George Hudock determined the woman had been left at the dump site for two or three days. While lab results revealed the presence of acid on the body, the autopsy failed to identify a specific cause of death and the manner was left as &#8220;undetermined,&#8221; according to the petition.</p><p>The investigation was closed within three months.</p><p>Investigators &#8220;failed to fulfill their duties and responsibilities&#8221; to identify the woman or her manner of death at the time, says the petition, submitted by Salavantis and Assistant District Attorney Daniel Zola.</p><p>The woman &#8220;died under extremely suspicious circumstances and a further investigation into her identity and the cause and manner of her death is in the public&#8217;s best interest,&#8221; the petition says.</p><p>The petition notes Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Thomas McAndrew recently reopened the decades old cold case but was unable to identify the woman after entering her into national missing persons databases.</p><p>After the body is exhumed, the remains will be transported to Lehigh County Forensic Center for inititial examination and then to Kimmerle, according to the petition.</p><p>Kimmerle, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida, routinely assists law enforcement from around the nation in similar matters, the petition says, and recently secured federal funding for the examination.</p><p>She has also served as a former chief anthropologist with the United Nations, according to her curriculum vitae.</p><p>Among a number of other forensic techniques that will be used in the examination, the woman&#8217;s DNA can be entered into a database that links to samples from people missing family members, according to the petition. A facial reconstruction could also be completed, the petition says.</p><p>The disinterment is scheduled for Sept. 26. Following the examination, the woman&#8217;s body will be returned to the cemetery and reburied, according to the petition.</p><p>Salavantis said criminal charges are pending the results of the examination, which could take a few months, and further investigation into the matter.</p><p>&#8220;It starts with identifying the individual,&#8221; she said.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Investigators to exhume body in ‘highly suspicious’ 43-year-old cold case