European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 8, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Bone detective Clyde Snow by Malcolm Ritter associated press c Lyde Snow peered Al the iwo a Ray before him Back and Forth his Blue eyes Orin in As if comparing a Rembrandt Wilha Clever  to saw what he needed to tha x Ray on the Lell he pointed out the shapes of the Bony spines of vertebrae. To tha casual Eye they were just Pale blobs. But snug a saw More this one looked like a backwards "0," iwo others like Skinny and fat raindrops a fourth like a Squal decanter with a Cork. And when to compared that a Ray freshly taken of a charred body found in a burned Down House to the other removed irom the Homeowner s medical Lile the shapes matched exactly. Thai s him Snow said the body now had a name. There was no name yet for the Gray Moss tinged Bones that Lay on a slain fess steel table in an adjacent room. Nearby in a Black plastic bucket Sal b partial female Skull apparently thai of a murder victim. Considering Somo of Snow s past assignments helping identify the remains of nazi War criminal Josef Hengelo and the victims of mass murderer John Wayne Gacy. Coaxing biographical details from the Bones of plane crash victims and the soldiers who died with Cutler this was a pretty slow Day Lor Snow to drop in a the Chiel medical examiner s office in Oklahoma cily. B Al before it was Over. Snow had Laken a Call from Argentina about a crime he finds even More frightening than the work of deranged murderers the killings of thousands of argentines by the military Junta that ruled that country from 1976 to 1983 Snow. 5b. One of the nation s top authorises on identifying skeletal remains plans to Devole much of the coming year to working without pay in Argentina Loaid the prosecution of the military killers. There s no victim More helpless than a citizen of his own government m his government decides to become a murderer he says. You have no defense. The very machinery that was set up to protect you is used against you despite such musings i m nol a philosopher Snow says i Don t know much about philosophy and political things. I m More comfortable with the  it s been 25 years since an Oklahoma sheriff brought Snow a Skull Lound in a Roadside paper sack and asked Tor his first professional consultation. At a forensic Anthropol Oil to Snow works on Bones father than Tresh bodies. He handles 60 to 60 cases a year As a freelancer and consultant to medical examiners in Oklahoma cily and Chicago. He works out of his Home in Norman och. But workers Al the Medica examiner s optics see a to of this native texan who skips lunch for a Daylong diet of Contee and camels and whose eyes and Mustache make him look a bit like a younger brother of Albert Einstein. It was As a graduate anthropology Studen at the University 61 Arizona in the 1950s that Snow realized a enjoyed working with modern human remains More than ancient ones. We were dealing Wilh people who be got names. People that we could develop some biographical information on through medical and dental records he says. Besides a adds i think there s a hide bit of Sherlock Holmes in everybody. So we gel to play detective to a limited extent. Snow became a free Lancer in 1979, after retiring trom the Federal aviation administration. His Faa duties included investigating plane crashes. He look on outside jobs Tike the Skull in the sack for free. Both activities enhanced his reputation and by the time he Snow Jii Tuum the human Kuhin hit Oklahoma office. He helped identify the remain of Josef Mangels. Began consulting he was widely known. In Ideal flying bodies Snow looks for a series of clues in the Bones. For example sex is revealed in the shape of the Pelvis and the heavier Eyebrow ridges of the mate Skull. Racial clues also show up in the Skull. Stature can be calculated to within an Inch from the length of  and leg Bones physique leaves its traces in the robustness of the Bones and their development in places where Muscles once Allacher a very fat person will leave characteristic degeneration in knee joints even As Early As in his 20s a Small depression in a woman s Pelvic Bone betraying the Bone s adjustment to the weight of carrying a baby reveals a woman has Given birth. Childhood fever can be prolonged and severe enough to interrupt growth of Bone or tools enamel old injuries to Bones also leave Marks. The shoulder Blade s join with the Arm indicates whether the person was right or left handed. The joint s rear Edge is More rounded and less Dis incl Lor the dominant Arm that in t going to help us much if we find a right handed  Snow says but when we do find 0 left handed person. That helps us narrow things Down a great  age it Umiten require a number of approaches. From 20 to 50. A portion of the Pelvis goes through a series of changes that can indicate age within three to five years Snow says. For youngsters and adolescents the Bones Are still growing. During that time a forearm Bone consists of the growing Central Shaft plus a Bony plate at each end separated by cartilage. When the growth is Over the plates unite with the Central Shaft closing the Gap and forming a solid Bone. Several dozen such gaps throughout the body close in a predetermined order. By noting which gaps Are open and which Are closed in a Skeleton scientists can estimate the age at death. In old people such As Menete age estimates Are much harder. But h scientists can Cut extremely thin Cross sections of one or More of the Long Bones they can observe age related features under a Microscope Snow says that method showed that Mengele s reputed remains came irom a Man aged 69. Plus or minus live years. Snow examined Menefe s remains last june for the Simon Weisenthal Center in t of Angeles which studied the holocaust Snow and Solhei  concluded Wilh reasonable Sci    the Bones were Menicle s. Recently. Pusiiivt1 identification was made the ouija newly  to dental a rays. Snow now has another South american placet Argentina. Under Lii military government Al last 9.odd citizens simply disappeared. Most were nol the Lell Wing terrorists the government had targeted publicly but others such As political and labor activists and their relatives lawyers ant Douma list who expressed concern about the . Rather than following the criminal Justice nys Ieni the military frequently kidnapped its victims interrogating and torturing them in secret centers and then killing most of them the civilian government int replaced the Junta is prosecuting the military men who carried Oul the Campaign Snow got involved in 1981 when the Argentine government asked the american association Tor the advancement of science for a team of forensic scientists to lend technical a vice in documenting murders. Snow who knew Little about Inq situation Well to Argentina for a scheduled 10-Day visit. He stayed a month drawn into a Case of a family killed in a military attack on their House. Burial records said a 6-Monlh-Oid daughter was among the dead but Snow determined thai she evidently had become a Black Market baby Many of whom were sold to military or police families. Snow helped find such children by identifying the remains of their parents. The location of those remains indicated the area where the children might be found. He also trained a Small team of archaeological students in proper exhumation of bodies to help preserve evidence. On a second trip last year Snow and other american experts taught Argentine scientists the techniques of skeletal identification. Snow also testified against leaders of the Junta. In the coming year he plans to help the Argentine government establish a Laboratory Lor Idelli Licarion of bodies. Though Grants from the Ford foundation and the j. Roderick Macarthur foundation will pay Tor expenses. Snow says he will take no salary. Sunday june 8, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17