Mystery at Devil's Elbow

The Pulaski Sheriff’s Office worked with the St. Robert Police, the Missouri State Police, the Phelps County Sheriff, and Rolla Police to identify the five new skeletons found near the Devil’s Elbow Bridge.

“Sheriff, I’ve identified three additional missing person reports from near the Devil’s Elbow Bridge that I think match the three additional skeletons,” said Deputy Rodney Bishop. “The second missing person reported was Linda Brown. She was reported missing by her parents in 1929 at the age of 21. She was from Waynesville, but her last known location was Devil’s Elbow.”

“Go on.”

“The third was Jackie Wilson, reported missing by her roommate in 1935 at the age of 20. She was from Newburg, but her last known location was near the Devil’s Elbow Bridge.”

“And the last?”

“The fourth missing person was Deborah Johnson. Reported missing by her boyfriend in 1947 at the age of 21. She was from Laquey, but her last known location was also near Devil’s Elbow Bridge.”

“Sounds like a trend, Bishop.”

“It sure does.”

“I’ll let Doctor Bennett know.”

“Doctor Bennett, this is JD.”

“Sheriff, good to hear from you.”

“Doctor, we’ve got specifics on some missing persons that I’d like to give to you.”

“Certainly, let me get a pen … okay, ready.”JD listed off the women’s names, ages, dates, and locations of their disappearances.

“Oh, my! When you look at the age and location when they went missing, this is remarkable. The preliminary data gives me the impression that this whole thing is planned. You and I had agreed to bury the first skeleton, but with what we’ve learned recently, I went back to funeral home and got the first skeleton back and had it transferred to Doctor Hellyer. The funeral home hadn’t done anything yet, and we haven’t spoken to the family yet.”

“I had the same feeling, doctor. I am glad you were able to get it back.”

“I’ll get this information to Doctor Hellyer’s team, so they can be working on it too.”

“Okay, doctor. I don’t have any idea where this is going, it’s gruesome right now.”

“I agree, it is grisly. And it doesn’t make any sense.”

The team at the University of Missouri worked around the clock analyzing the six skeletons from Devil’s Elbow. Two of the skeletons were incomplete and appeared to be much older than the other four. Doctor Hellyer and her team went over each skeleton as they were cleaned and prepared for analysis.

It was apparent from the age, location, and skeletal examination that all six skeletons that had died between the ages of 40 and 65. None of the skeletons had any evidence of foul play like damage to the bones that wasn’t healed. The two older skeletons showed signs of teeth marks from wildlife. It was also determined that the animals had no contact with the skeletons until after death. Due to the sizes and proportions of the bones as well as the pelvic bone, it was decided that all the skeletons were female.

Seven days later, the laboratory analysis of the skeletons was ready for review. Doctor Hellyer gathered her team of graduate students, Doctor Bennett, and Sheriff Carson to go over the results. Everyone assembled in a large conference room.

“Thank you all for coming. I would like to turn this meeting over to my able assistant, Doctor James Merryweather, to provide details on what we found,” said Doctor Hellyer.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will present to you the initial findings of the skeletons found in and around the area of Devil’s Elbow, Missouri,” said Doctor Merryweather from behind a podium nearly as tall as he was. He spoke from prepared notes that had been provided to each person attending. “In that area, one skeleton was initially located and provided to the University of Missouri anthropology lab for analysis. Also, the lab was called to respond to three additional skeletons. Before the team could complete that retrieval, two additional skeletons were found. These last two skeletons were partials. A review of all the skeletons indicates they were women, all in good health during their lives, and no evidence of foul play. The women were buried in the ground approximately 20 inches deep without the use of a coffin or vault. This led to the rapid dissolution of all body parts except for the skeleton.”

The people around the room sat quietly staring at Doctor Merryweather as he spoke. The room was capable of a much larger crowd, so each person had a seat with a clear view of the speaker. The room was very comfortable thanks to the central air conditioning.

Doctor Merryweather spoke in a clear voice. “Now I’d like to provide specifics about each skeleton. Skeleton number one was a woman born in 1926 who lived to be 40 years old and was likely buried for three years. Skeleton two was a woman born around 1908. She lived to be 58 years old and was likely buried for three years. Skeleton number three was a woman, born around 1915, and she lived to be 50 years old and was likely buried for four years. Skeleton number four was a female, born 1926, 41 years old, likely been buried for two years. Concerning the two partial skeletons: Skeleton number five was a woman, born around 1897. She lived to be 60 years old and was buried for around 12 years. Skeleton number six was a woman, born around 1895, she lived to be 65 years old and was buried around 9 years. Lastly, I would like to note that the dates for births are accurate plus or minus three years and the dates of death are accurate within six months.” Doctor Merryweather closed his folder placing his hands on the podium.

“We’d be happy to take any questions that you might have,” said Doctor Hellyer.

“Good briefing, Doctor Merryweather. Did you see any indication of disease on any skeletons during your analysis?” asked Doctor Bennett.

“No doctor, but we were limited to diseases that would have scarred the bones.”

“Did you find any pre-death damage to the bones?”

“Yes, we did, doctor. Skeleton number two showed a fracture of the tibia that likely occurred in youth and was set correctly and healed properly. Skeleton number six had a broken femur that was also set correctly and healed properly.”

“Was the hyoid bone broken on any of the skeletons, Doctor Merryweather?” asked JD. The hyoid bone is in the throat. If the bone is broken, it means the person was probably strangled. JD had learned how important this bone was while investigating his first murder. JD had worked his way up through the ranks in the sheriff’s office. He started right after he got out of the Army. He even spent a couple of years as a homicide detective.

“Sheriff, the hyoid bone was present and unbroken in five of the six skeletons. Concerning the sixth skeleton, the hyoid bone was completely missing. Chew marks around that area lead me to believe it was taken by an animal.”

“Hmm. One more question, Doctor Merryweather. Was there evidence of restraints such as ropes used on the wrists, or ankles for binding?”

“No, Sheriff, we found no evidence of ropes or bindings in any of the graves. The arms and hands of each victim were positioned by the side of each body, except for skeleton number one and skeleton number five. The arms in both cases had been moved post-burial, probably by animals. The legs of each skeleton, except for number one and number five, were laid parallel to each other in the grave. The exceptions were posted burial movement of bones, again likely done by animals.”

“Doctor Hellyer, I’d like to thank you and your team very much. This information is very informative. Unfortunately, not helpful in solving the puzzle now. Maybe it will become important later as we find more pieces of the puzzle.”

“We seem to be missing many pieces,” said JD.

“I understand your frustration, sheriff. The only reason I can think of for burying these women there is if they were related to a crime. Unfortunately, the analysis doesn’t support that conclusion.”

“Doctor Hellyer, I would also like to add my thanks. I don’t know what the bottom line is, but I know you certainly answered a lot of questions I had,” said Doctor Bennett.

“Thank you, Doctor Bennett.”

“Doctor Hellyer, can I share something with you?” asked JD.

“Yes, Sheriff.”

“It’s been my experience as a lawman that things aren’t over until you can answer the basic question why. We don’t know why. I hope I’m wrong, but I think there are more skeletons out in those fields.”

Doctor Bennett looked at JD with his mouth open.

“Thanks again to your team Doctor Hellyer,” JD said. “Time for us to head back to Waynesville.”