The University’s one and only Bone Lady has been doing a lot more than digging through remains.
Anthropologist and Director of the LSU FACES Laboratory Mary Manhein is back with her fourth book, “Bone Remains: Cold Cases in Forensic Anthropology,” which hit shelves earlier this month.
Manhein’s new book reveals some of her wildest cases in the 30 years she’s spent in forensic anthropology.
“One of the hardest parts about writing this book was choosing which cases to use,” Manhein said. “I wanted a variety of different cases that represent the gambit of what we do.”
Manhein said that “Bone Remains” details her time in the field and the different cases she has worked on throughout her career.
“Bone Remains” is Manhein’s fourth published story and her third nonfiction work.
This book is different because it focuses mostly on the missing and unidentified individuals in cases and on the FACES lab’s success in getting federal funding for a database used to help identify and solve Louisiana’s unresolved missing persons’ cases.
Manhein and the scientists at a Louisiana criminalistics laboratory are responsible for pushing House Bill 1140 Act 227, which allocates state funding for the Louisiana Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons Information Program through the legislature.
“This database is the most comprehensive state database of its kind in the country,” Manhein said.
Manhein said her favorite part about writing this new book was getting the word out about this database and letting people know it’s available.
“This book is just another avenue to make it known to the public,” Manhein said. “And there’s a chance we could solve more cases if people are more aware of the database.”
Manhein also said when it came time to pore over her past cases for the book, her emotions from previous cases came flooding back, especially, cases that dealt with children.
“We get very few children’s cases, but I hate all of them, in terms of what people do to others,” Manhein said.
She said cases with children tend to stay with her longer than she would like.
“The reality of this job is that there is no such thing as closure. I hate that word,” Manhein said.
To push through the more emotionally taxing cases, Manhein said it is important to remind herself that the work she does helps people and that dwelling on the case is bad for her soul.
Having compassion in this field is extremely important, but so is remaining objective, Manhein said.
“In the beginning of my career, I sometimes worked seven days a week,” Manhein said.
The puzzle of the mystery and the lack of help in the lab kept her intrigued and motivated. Now, Manhein said she works alongside a handful of wonderful women who are passionate about the job.
Manhein went on to say that of all her 30 years in anthropology, her favorite time in her career is right now.
“I am able to look back on my career and on the things we’ve done, and all of the people we’ve helped and the database and the wonderful women who work with me, and I am just so pleased,” Manhein said. “I’m happy for all of the people we’ve helped and for the state of Louisiana that now has a unique database surpassed by none.”