By Tarek El-Tablawy, The Associated Press
Mount Clemens, Mich. (AP) -- For about eight months, it was referred to simply as Harry. But with the help of a forensic artist and a state trooper whose memory was troubled by an unsolved case, the Michigan State Police have been able to identify a skull found more than a decade ago.
The skull found in a dredging site along the Clinton River in September 1992 is all that has been found of Shawn Patrick Raymond, 19, of St. Clair County’s Clay Township.
Raymond was reported missing on July 23, 1983, by his mother, Shirley. Police said he had gone to meet some friends in Detroit and never was seen again.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been more certain of an identification before,” said state police Sgt. Tim Brown.
Brown saw the reconstructed face about a week ago and recalled a missing persons case from when he was an officer with the Clay Township Police Department. He contacted Trooper Sarah Foster, one of five forensic artists with the state police who had undertaken the facial reconstruction.
“I told her, ‘Sarah, I think I know who this is,”’ Brown said.
Foster had worked on the skull for about eight months along with her regular road duties at the Richmond post. She described the reconstruction as a labor of dedication and art.
“You work on this for so long, you get to know the person -- maybe not the personality, but you know every bump, nook and crevice of that skull,” said Foster, who had nicknamed the skull Harry, a moniker that caught on with other troopers at the post.