REVIEW: Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless by Laurah Norton
Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to “getting the bad guy” behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence—and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases. In 2018, the accused Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, was finally apprehended after a decades-long investigation thanks to a very recent technique called forensic genealogy, which has since led to the closure of hundreds of cold cases, bringing long-awaited justice to victims and families alike. But when it comes to solving these incredibly difficult cases, forensic genealogy is just the tip of the iceberg—and many readers have no idea just how far down that iceberg goes.
For Laurah Norton, forensic science was always more of a passion than anything else. But after learning about a mishandled 1990s cold case involving missing twins, she was spurred to action, eventually creating a massively popular podcast and building a platform that helped bring widespread attention and resources to the case. LAY THEM TO REST builds on Laurah’s fascination with these investigations, introducing readers to the history and evolution of forensic science, from the death masks used in Ancient Rome to the 3-D facial reconstruction technology used today. Incorporating the stories of real-life John & Jane Does from around the world, Laurah also examines how changing identification methods have helped solve the most iconic cold cases. Along the way readers will also get to see Laurah solve a case in real time with forensic anthropologist Dr. Amy Michael, as they try to determine the identity of “Ina” Jane Doe, a woman whose head was found in a brush in an Illinois park in 1993.
More than just a chronicle of the history of forensics, LAY THEM TO REST is also a celebration of the growing field of experts, forensic artists, and anthropologists (many of whom Laurah talks to in the book), who work tirelessly to bring closure to these unsolved cases. And of course, this book asks why some cases go unsolved, highlighting the “missing missing,” the sex workers, undocumented, the cases that so desperately need our attention, but so rarely get it.
Engrossing, informative, heartbreaking, and hopeful, LAY THEM TO REST is a deep dive into the world of forensic science, showing readers how far we’ve come in cracking cases and catching killers, and illuminating just how far we have yet to go.
CW – The main case covered in this book is disturbing in terms of the remains of the decedent.
Review
Death and DNA fascinate me. Last year I read and reviewed “The Forever Witness” which discussed, in terms of a horrific crime, new and amazing things being done with DNA to catch criminals. This book is similar but talks about other means as well that are being used to identify John and Jane Does and give them their identities back. It’s a book that rewards a bit of patience and perseverance.
I’ll be honest and say that I found the start of the book to be very scattershot and a little disorganized – which didn’t surprise me anymore after the information (far too much, IMO) about how author Laurah Norton packs for a trip. At times there was way too much of her in this. Some things were overexplained while others weren’t explained enough. Norton is a writer (and teaches college classes) but at first this reads like an early draft. I hope that this has another round of editing and polishing before it gets published. The writing style is also more like a spoken podcast (of which she has two). There’s also a feel of a too earnest amateur tagging along with her friend the forensic anthropologist as they go to the recovery scene of a crime that Norton is interested in.
Estimates of the number of unidentified decedents in the US range from 40,000-60,000. I think Norton does a good job in getting across to the lay public just how hard it can be to identify a decedent or to get journalists interested in continuing to cover cold cases after a news cycle flips to something new. Those involved with these investigations know that publicity is important as it can help keep cases from going “cold” and maybe lead to a clue that cracks the case. Kudos to her for emphasizing that just because a police/sheriff department is small, it doesn’t necessarily mean those LEOs are yahoos or uninterested in keeping up with the latest technology or that they don’t care about solving cases.
Those who do continue to follow people with no name have all kinds of websites and reddit threads they read, contribute to, and obsess over. There are some amazing sites out there (which Laurah Norton discusses a bit about and which I will link to). Most of them are labors of … well I won’t say love as that sounds macabre given the subject but let’s say these people care about the Does who end up lost to their loved ones, families, and friends. There are also sites focusing on trans and other LGBTQIA+ Does. Through her podcast, Norton has met and worked with artists, dentists, and scientists in various fields who all work to reunite the UID (unidentified dead) with their names. The chapters on what forensic dental odontologists can and have done is fascinating. The skill and flair that forensic artists employ to give a (hopefully) identifiable face to a victim have solved decades old cold cases. The new DNA technology such as DNA Phenotyping is mindblowing. I was glad to see the care and respect that forensic anthropologists are trained to render to the remains they work with.
Most of these skills and professions (no phenotyping was done for this case that I remember) were put to use to try and identify a woman known for almost thirty years only as Ina Jane Doe. (WARNING – GRAPHIC) Her head was found in a southern Illinois recreation park by two twelve year old girls. The interval between her death and discovery was thought to be fairly short. Sadly the area was no stranger to violent deaths and the police department along with the Illinois State Police got straight to work but as time dragged on, the case went cold. Then Norton and her friend, Dr. Amy Michael, contacted them to offer to reevaluate the skeletal remains. Thankfully genetic genealogy had just become a thing, a lab managed to obtain DNA in excellent shape, this was uploaded to GEDmatch, the genealogy wizards at Redgrave Research Forensic Services did their magic and Ina Jane Doe had her name back.
As this case moved into high gear either the writing smoothed out or I was so interested that I didn’t notice the earlier ticks that were annoying. I do wish that some of the other cases in the book had a follow-up of where things stand with them including a mummy discovered at a private school and a mummified head gifted to another school which Laurah and Amy were trying to link genetically to descendants or ethnic communities. I’m glad I stuck with the book as I ended up getting to see the inside details of some amazing tech and the hard work of caring people. B-
~Jayne
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