Forensic anthropologist to examine remains found in Georges Township

State police said this morning that they are waiting for a forensic pathology team to examine skeletal remains discovered in the woods Tuesday evening near Strickland Estates in Georges Township.

Police said that there were items that could identify the body, but are waiting for Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist from Mercyhurt Archaeological Institute in Erie, to examine the remains before making any sort of identification. Additionally, police are hoping that medical personnel may be able to identify a cause of death.

A police spokeswoman said a positive identification could take some time.

Dirkmaat has been involved in several other cases in Fayette County where he has been brought in to examine remains. Most notably, he helped police sort through 2,200 bone fragments of Helen Gillin, a mentally retarded woman burned in a fire pit in Bear Rocks in 1992 in Bullskin Township. Dirkmaat got involved in that case in 1999, and it led to the murder conviction of the woman's adoptive father, James Gillin.

Earlier this year, Dirkmaat came to North Union Township to help search for the remains of a Florida girl whom authorities believe was abducted 30 years ago. A witness came forward and told authorities that she believed a former neighbor buried a body that could have been Jennifer Martilez.

That search was called off when cadaver dogs did not show indicates of remains, and because the area in which the search was conducted had been disturbed over the years for various reasons, including the installation of gas lines.