All Bodies At Marsh Property Now Inspected

  • Monday, March 4, 2002

All the bodies that have been recovered at the Tri-State Crematory a have now been inspected, and a special DEMORT team is being deactivated.

Dr. Kris Sperry, Georgia chief medical examiner, said no new bodies have been discovered in recent days. Of the team of federal specialists, he noted, "We have run out of work for them to do."

The 40-member federal team had been dispatched to Noble, Ga., to help in the body identification. They earlier were at the World Trade Center in New York City.

Dr. Sperry said the body count remains at 339, with 97 having been identified. He said that number will increase by a few due to several bodies being comingled in one body bag.

Dr. Sperry said officials now will begin using information supplied by family members into a data bank to try to make more identification. He said the use of DNA will come into play later.

Officials also said the draining of the lake on the Marsh family property began shortly before 2 p.m. Monday.

Dr. Bert Langley of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said the lake was going down quickly. He said the two-and-a-half acre lake should be drained by Wednesday morning.

Dr. Langley said officials will attempt to use an existing drain at the lake to remove the remainder of the water after all that can be siphoned has been taken off. He said that drain is now inoperable, but it may be possible to repair it. He said if that is not possible, the dam will be breached with heavy equipment.

Authorities earlier spotted a skull and torso in the lake about 10 feet off shore. The lake is about seven to eight feet deep at the deepest point, Dr. Langley said.

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