PSU Magazine Spring 1988

-----·NEWSMAKER·----- Finding the face Beneath the skin between eight and 10 years previously. With this to go on the police traced the remains to a runaway Californian girl missing for nine years. Because of this first success Bennett has been receiving five or six requests for assistance each year. "The remains may be too far gone for the coroner to identify," says Bennett. "These people are highly trained medical physicians used to dealing with flesh clad skele– tons. A bag of bones is exactly what I'm trained for," says Bennett. Article and photographs by Kathryn Kirkland W hen Ann Bennett stepped out of her car, the two farm dogs that usually yip and jump at her feet, nosing her hand for affec– tionate pats, took one whiff and backed away with tails tucked. Ann couldn't blame them. She h ad spent the last nine hours in the morgue at the Multnomah County Medical Exam– iner's Office with five of the seven bodies found in a forest outside Molalla. As a consulting forensic anthropol– ogist, Bennett was part of the team that put names with the sad and grisly remains on the morgue's autopsy tables. Two more autopsies were per– formed a few days later as the remain– ing bodies were brought in from the crime scene. An associate professor of anthro– pology at Portland State University, Bennett usually studies bones hundreds of years old or Southwestern pottery waiting to be pieced back together. She thrives on the puzzle and methodical recording of data. But since coming to Portland State 12 years ago Bennett has also been put– ting her skills to use on more timely subjects as a consulting forensic anthropologist, called in when the police or medical examiner need help identifying bones. "It is a practical application of my training in traditional physical anthropology," explains Bennett. "The techniques are straight forward and the work satisfies the detective in me - a little Ms. Marple with some Dr. Quincy thrown in." The techniques may be simple for Bennett's trained eye but her first case many years ago had the Multnomah County Sheriffs office stumped. A skeleton found on the Lewis and Clark College campus needed identifying. A call to Portland State's anthropology department led them to Bennett who said she would be glad to give it a try. "Next thing I knew a police paddy wagon pulled up outside Cramer Hall and in came two police officers carry– ing a body bag," recalls Bennett. She was able to identify gender, age, a general physical description of the remains and to place the time of death Bennett has a Ph.D from the Uni– versity of Utah in physical anthropol– ogy and archeology of the Middle East With Bennett's help a good description of the seven murder victims was developed. and American Southwest. Portland State lured her away from the study of Pueblo pottery to assume a position with PSU's nationally renowned Mid– dle East Studies Center. Identifying bones from an archeologi,cal dig or a police crime lab is Bennett's specialty. Here, she is measuring a long leg bone to estimate height. PSU MAGAZINE PAGE 7