Foot and torso MSP investigation remains open
The Michigan State Police in Cheboygan and Alpena have an open investigation involving the recovery of unidentified human remains that were discovered on the Lake Huron shoreline in May and July 2008.
A human torso was found in Cheboygan County?s Benton Township May 26, 2008 and a human foot was found in Ocqueoc Township July 28, 2008.
A DNA profile was developed from these remains by a University of North Texas lab and also a determination that the torso and foot belong to the same individual. The mitochondrial DNA obtained from the body parts was recently compared to two known missing persons from northern Lake Huron.
FAMILY DNA from missing person Charles Rutherford Jr., 34, of Grosse Pointe and Henry Stauffer, 56, of Washington D.C. did not return any valid associations with the unidentified remains.
The DNA profiles also were compared with a national database of the relatives of missing persons in CODIS and no associations were made.
Rutherford was in an incident where two boaters came up missing while traveling between Rogers City and Mackinac Island, August 11, 2005. The boat he had been on was found floating adrift near Marquette Island the next day. The body of one of the boat occupants, Lana Stempien, 35, of Grosse Pointe, was found washed up on Lake Huron shoreline a couple of weeks later, approximately three miles from where the torso was discovered in 2008.
Rutherford?s body has never been recovered and he has been declared legally dead in a Presque Isle County courtroom.
Stauffer was a passenger in an airplane that crashed in the Straits of Mackinac August 24, 2007. Pilot Karen Dodds body was recovered near the Mackinac Bridge, October 8, 2007. Stauffer?s body has never been recovered.
A BIOLOGICAL PROFILE also was obtained from Dr. Norman Sauer, Michigan State University forensic anthropologist, for these remains. Dr. Sauer believes the recovered remains belong to a m
The recovered foot was found inside a sock, which was inside a size 10 Reebok sandal. A representative from the Reebok Company advised that they began manufacturing this particular sandal in 1997 and it was introduced to the market in 1998.
Investigators will continue to submit additional DNA samples from family members of missing persons in the northern Lake Huron and Lake Michigan areas. There are a number of missing persons who have never been recovered from various incidents in the straits area in past years.
Citizens are asked to call the Michigan State Police at Cheboygan 231-627-9973 or Alpena 989-354-4101 if there any leads that need to be investigated.