Major Bruce Temple of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office said this morning an anthropological study of the remains found on Montfort Street October 22 has been completed.
That study was conducted by Megan Perry, an assistant professor for the Department of Anthropology at East Carolina University.
This study does not provide conclusive evidence about the identity of the skeleton, Temple said. “That part is being carried out by the SBI lab, which is doing a fine job for us.”
The anthropological study does, however, determine the age of the person, sex, their race, stature and time of death.
The study shows foul play was not a cause of the person’s death and there are no signs his death was self inflicted. The analysis of the time of death is consistent with the time Jerry Dale Harrell, 38, was reported missing, which was January 26. He was last seen on December 11, 2009.
To say the remains are of those of Harrell’s continues to be speculation until DNA tests prove otherwise, Temple said.
Collection of DNA from his brother in New York has been completed and forwarded to the SBI, which will complete its investigation.
Harrell’s son filed the missing person report but didn’t do so until January because, as a construction worker, it wasn’t unusual for him to be gone for extended periods.
Harrell, according to state Department of Correction records, is listed as an absconder from probation and parole. His past criminal record includes charges of assault on a female and assault and battery.
The remains were found after a woman who was walking her dog on Montfort Street reported the animal brought bones from the woods which were possibly human.
The sheriff’s office confirmed the bones were human remains and after a search located the rest of the remains.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations and a special team from East Carolina University came and assisted in processing the scene.DNA collected from the bones and Harrell’s family will help to confirm the identity.
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