We've seen some things. And we've got a lot to say.

Hunters heading into Oregon’s backcountry thought they were scouting for spring bear season.

Instead… they found human remains.

Scattered bones.

No ID.

No phone.

No wallet.

No name.

Just a remote forest service road deep in Linn County… and a woman whose story had been lost to time, weather, and wildlife.

In this episode, Mindy and Nici take you behind the yellow tape and into the real-world science of human identification. From skeletal recovery and animal scavenging… to dental records, facial reconstruction, private DNA labs, and the frustrating reality of what happens when the technology exists—but the systems meant to support it fall short.

Who was the woman investigators would eventually call the “Linn County Cowgirl”?

How do you identify someone when there’s almost nothing left?

And what happens when the dead are waiting for their name… but the databases aren’t doing their job?

This one is dark.

This one is personal.

And this one reminds us why every unidentified person matters.

⚠️ Listener discretion advised. This episode contains graphic discussions of decomposition, skeletal recovery, and death investigation.

Links to the images discussed in this case: Images

Links to news stories about this case: 

Fox 13 - DNA Helps ID

KATU- Skeleton found by Sweet Home

You asked. We answered.

After our Episode 6 follow-up, your DMs filled up with questions—not just about Oregon or policy, but about the science itself.

So this is our first Morgue Mailbag episode.

We’re breaking down what people think they know about DNA—and what actually happens in the real world.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why DNA can solve one case instantly… and give you nothing in another
• How long DNA can really survive (hint: it depends) 
• What happens when evidence is degraded, contaminated, or just plain messy 
• The difference between STR, mitochondrial DNA, and SNP testing (yes, we make it make sense) 
• Why CODIS only works when profiles are actually processed and uploaded 
• And what TV gets very, very wrong 

Because forensic science isn’t magic.
It’s biology.
It’s process.
And sometimes… it’s limited by what actually survives.

If you’ve ever wondered why some cases are solved in days while others take decades—or never get answers at all—this episode is for you.

After Episode 6, we heard from a lot of you.

Questions. Frustration. Confusion.

Honestly… same.

So this episode is a follow-up — a deeper look at what’s happening with DNA processing in missing persons cases, what we were told, and why it still doesn’t make sense.

We break down:

• What CODIS is actually designed to do 
• What happens when DNA profiles are not processed or uploaded 
• The explanations we were given — and the gaps that remain 
• Why this isn’t just a policy issue… it’s a human one 

Because when the system doesn’t function the way people believe it does, cases stall. And families wait.

This episode isn’t about theory or speculation.
It’s about process. Infrastructure. And accountability.

 Before Meet Me at the Morgue became a podcast, there was a day when a pandemic forced the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office to rethink how they trained death investigators across the state.  

Annual in-person training was canceled. Travel stopped. Conferences disappeared overnight.  But death investigation doesn’t pause for a global shutdown. So the team improvised.  

Instead of bringing investigators to the morgue, they brought the morgue to them — turning a working autopsy suite into a film studio to record hands-on training for investigators who still needed certification.  That’s how Mindy ended up in the middle of a working morgue with a trunk full of camera gear, filming demonstrations on evidence collection, forensic photography, skeletal examination… and toxicology fluid draws.  Including one particularly memorable moment involving a syringe, a human eyeball, and the brand-new Chief Medical Examiner meeting her for the first time.  

In this episode, Mindy and Dr. Nici take listeners behind the scenes of that surreal day — the science of death investigation, the challenges of training during a pandemic, and the humor that helps forensic professionals survive the job.  

Sometimes the morgue is a classroom. 

Sometimes it’s a film set. 

And sometimes it’s where a podcast begins. 

In December 2014, two duck hunters in the wetlands of Marion County, Oregon, made a discovery that would launch a complex forensic investigation: a camouflage jacket containing a fully skeletonized human arm.

What initially appeared to be a straightforward recovery quickly became something far more unusual. The remains showed extensive surface damage that raised questions about chemical exposure, environmental factors, or trauma. Credit cards found in the jacket belonged to someone else entirely, adding another layer of mystery.

In this episode of Meet Me at the Morgue, we walk through the forensic anthropology examination, the role of environmental scavenging, and the investigative work that ultimately led to identification through DNA comparison in CODIS. We also examine the broader implications of delayed identification and how science, time, and persistence can converge to resolve even long-standing cases.

This case highlights the importance of careful skeletal analysis, environmental interpretation, and the power of national DNA databases in bringing clarity to complex investigations.

Strange. Unsettling. And ultimately, a reminder that accountability can take time — but science does not forget.

Links to the images discussed in this case: Images

Links to news stories about this case: 

KGW-Human remains found   

CNN- Remains found believed to be fugitive

🚨 We interrupt this program to bring you an important message. 🚨

Dismembers—this one is a doozy. There’s no single crime scene, no neatly wrapped forensic case, and no easy answers. But stick with us, because what we’re about to talk about affects hundreds of missing people, unidentified dead, and the families still waiting for answers here in Oregon.

In this episode, we pull back the curtain on a slow-motion disaster years in the making: the quiet shutdown of Oregon’s Missing and Unidentified Persons DNA program. What happens when a state forensic lab decides these cases are no longer a priority? When DNA stops getting processed, profiles stop getting uploaded, and investigations quietly grind to a halt?

Drawing on decades in forensic anthropology, death investigation, law enforcement, and public service, we break down the systems that should be working—NCIC, CODIS, NamUs—and why, in Oregon, they aren’t. We talk statutes, memos, bureaucracy, and the 2023 decision that effectively left unidentified people without a path to their names—and families without a path to the truth.

This episode is heavy. It’s frustrating. It’s going to make you mad.
And honestly? It should.

Because missing people don’t stop mattering just because they’re inconvenient. And unidentified souls don’t deserve to sit in a morgue forever because someone decided they weren’t a priority.

Hope is why we’re here—but hope requires action!

Links discussed in this episode:    

• Missing & Unidentified Person webpage for Law Enforcement
• Link to Memo
• PDF of Memo
• Draft letter to your Legislator
• List of Legislators
• Oregon Revised Statutes 146
• Report Waste, Inefficiency, or Abuse of State Government Resources 

 Nici tells the story of her first crime scene — a night she thought would involve careful training and quiet observation, but instead delivered a NyQuil-knocked-out mentor, a rookie detective, a screaming guinea pig, and a scene that was anything but a textbook suicide. With dark humor, raw honesty, and zero sugarcoating, this episode continues the stories that shaped her career, sharpened her instincts, and cemented her tolerance for absolute chaos.  

Links to news stories about this case:   

 2015 Oregon's Lone Forensic Anthropologist  

 2017 article about the “Bone Collector”  

 2016 Gov. Brown appoints State Police Superintendent  

  Mindy tells the story of her first day at work — a day she thought would involve paperwork and bad coffee, but instead included shovels, an explosion gone wrong, and a very fast introduction to death investigation. With dark humor, real talk, and zero sugarcoating, this episode kicks off the stories that shaped both her career and her tolerance for chaos.  

Links to news stories about this case:   

The Oregonian 

 A fisherman reels in a quilted bundle in 1963—and inside is a toddler no one claimed, reported, or recognized. For sixty years, “Baby Boy Doe” was a heartbreaking enigma… until DNA, investigative genealogy, and some unexpected family memories brought answers no one ever saw coming. This episode, we uncover how science, sleuthing, and a few brave relatives finally gave little Stevie Crawford his name back.  

Links to the images from this case: Images  

Links to news stories about this case:   

  ABCNews, Good Morning America

Jackson County Sheriff's Office

This time we are in the rugged woods of Josephine County. When human remains were discovered alongside two distinct pieces of jewelry, investigators were left with more questions than answers. Who was she? How did she end up there? This case has it all: a decades-old disappearance, a stubborn trail gone cold, and the kind of forensic sleuthing that finally gave the unknown a name.

Links to the images from this case: Images  

Links to news stories about this case:   

KOIN 6, ABCNews, KOMONews

Josephine County Sheriff

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office

DNA Doe Project

We’re talking today about a haunting and remarkable mystery in Oregon’s wild and scenic wilderness: the discovery of skeletal remains in Hood River County in 2003 that ended up as one of Oregon’s toughest cases to solve, but in the end we discovered her name. It’s got everything: an unidentified body in the woods, lots of possible leads, decades-old family trees, and some very cool science. 

Link to the images from this case: Images 

Links to a news stories about this case: KVAL 13, KATU

Hood River County Sheriff’s Office 

Crime Stoppers Oregon

 We’re Mindy and Dr. Nici — the mouths behind Meet Me at the Morgue. We’re here to dish out Oregon’s missing and unidentified persons cases with a mix of curiosity, grit, and a little bit of sass.  It’s dark, it’s real, and it’s time to talk about it. Hit subscribe… if you dare.