Buried Secrets

Nick Heller comes to the aid of family friend Marshall Marcus, whose daughter Alexandra, has been kidnapped and held cap... (more)

Nick Heller comes to the aid of family friend Marshall Marcus, whose daughter Alexandra, has been kidnapped and held captive in an underground crypt; but as Nick digs deeper into Marshall's life, he finds that his criminal activities have left behind scores of enemies that reach to the highest levels of government. (less)

After seven years as a Chicago homicide detective, Lisa Grant has hit a wall. Ready for a kinder, gentler life, she take... (more)

After seven years as a Chicago homicide detective, Lisa Grant has hit a wall. Ready for a kinder, gentler life, she takes a job as a small-town police chief. But the discovery of a human skeleton by a construction crew at the edge of town taxes the resources of her department. A call for assistance brings detective Mac McGregor, an ex-Navy SEAL, to her doorstep. As they work to solve the mystery behind the unmarked grave, danger begins to shadow them. Someone doesn't want this dead person telling any tales--and will stop at nothing to make certain a life-shattering secret stays buried. (less)

After Rose's husband dies, she longs to be near her family, especially her twin sister, Lillian, so she packs up her you... (more)

After Rose's husband dies, she longs to be near her family, especially her twin sister, Lillian, so she packs up her young son and leaves her life in Ohio to move back to Paradise, Pennsylvania. Luke Miller is new to Paradise and is enjoying getting to know Rose, the quiet, reserved widow. Then he notices that her son looks an awful lot like his cousin. and Rose gets prickly when he mentions it. Is there something Rose isn't telling him? Luke wants a future with Rose, but can he really trust her with his love and life if she is keeping secrets from him? (less)

"To halt construction of a casino on Yaqui land, ranger Jolene Nighthawk plants damning evidence. But she{u2019}s caught... (more)

"To halt construction of a casino on Yaqui land, ranger Jolene Nighthawk plants damning evidence. But she{u2019}s caught by her ex Sam Cross, a Border Patrol agent with his own interest in the land{u2026}and Jolene. There may be bodies beneath the desert, victims of a murderous cartel. As Jolene and Sam investigate, they find that theirs may be the next bodies hidden in the Arizona sand."--Back cover. (less)

(more)

Nick Heller comes to the aid of family friend Marshall Marcus, whose daughter Alexandra, has been kidnapped and held cap... (more)

Nick Heller comes to the aid of family friend Marshall Marcus, whose daughter Alexandra, has been kidnapped and held captive in an underground crypt; but as Nick digs deeper into Marshall's life, he finds that his criminal activities have left behind scores of enemies that reach to the highest levels of government. (less)

(more)

(more)

"Nicky Roth should be happy--he's finally proven that his best friend, Aaron, and Aaron's younger sister, Mya, are missi... (more)

"Nicky Roth should be happy--he's finally proven that his best friend, Aaron, and Aaron's younger sister, Mya, are missing. Better yet, the police are actually doing something: they've plastered the town with missing posters, and have organized weekend search parties for the kids. But Nicky can't seem to pry his eyes from the house across the street, especially after he sees a frantic SOS coming from Aaron's room in the Peterson house. After what happened in the winter, and the warnings they got from their parents, Nicky's friends insist they can't help him investigate his neighbor anymore. If Nicky wants to find out what's going on in the Peterson house, he's going to have to do it alone"--Amazon. (less)

In November 1873, a party of 21 prospectors left Salt Lake City and headed towards the mountains. Two months later, they... (more)

In November 1873, a party of 21 prospectors left Salt Lake City and headed towards the mountains. Two months later, they arrived at the Ute Indian encampment where they were urged to wait out the winter. After two weeks, 6 men including 23-year old Alferd Packer who acted as their guide, decided to try to make it to an Indian agency 75 miles away. 65 days later, only Alferd Packer arrived at the agency. Over a year later the remains of the missing men were found and by now Packer had told two different versions of what had happened. Whether he murdered them all or claimed to have killed only one in self-defense, what he never denied was that he ate one of the men. Since there was no law on the Colorado books for cannibalism, Packer was arrested for first-degree murder. Due to legal technicalities, it would take two trials to convict Packer (of 5 counts of manslaughter) and sentence him to 40 years in prison. In July of 1989, law and forensic Professor James Starrs of George Washington University decided to try to prove which version of Packer's tale was indeed the true one. He led a team including archaeologists and forensic anthropologists and unearthed the 5 graves. He hoped by studying the bones, the truth of how these men died would finally be revealed. The bones were taken to the anthropology lab at the University of Arizona where forensic anthropologist Dr. Walter Birkby and a small team studied them. With the evidence uncovered from the bones, Starrs concluded that Packer was a "murdering cannibal and liar." On this episode of Skeleton Crew, Dr. Elizabeth Murray will re-examine the evidence and documentation taking a closer look at the most recent conclusions of the forensic anthropological studies to see which version of Alferd Packer's story may be closer to the truth. (less)

Guatemala for nearly 36 years was also a country ripped apart by a brutal civil war between the military government and ... (more)

Guatemala for nearly 36 years was also a country ripped apart by a brutal civil war between the military government and the rural Mayan population. In 1996, the United Nations brokered the final cease-fire. Mass graves now mar the countryside and efforts sanctioned by the present government have been underway to uncover, identify and properly rebury the dead. Dr. Clyde Snow, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist, has been traveling to Guatemala since 1991, when he first trained local archaeology students and helped set up a forensic lab in Guatemala City. He has invited Dr. Elizabeth Murray to observe and join in on the work being done by the crew there. Snow and Murray will travel into the jungle where one of the Guatemalan teams is presently excavating a mass grave site. They will also spend time in the lab in Guatemala City where Dr. Murray will have an opportunity to examine some of the remains and talk with various "technicians" about the forensic anthropological methods they use to aid in their identifications. For the Mayan survivors, it is of the utmost importance to them that the victims be identified, their injuries noted, and that proper burial take place. For this reason, after remains are studied and documented by the anthropology teams, a repatriation and reburial ceremony is carried out. Dr. Murray, joined by some members of the Guatemalan crew, will be present for one of these solemn testimonials to the importance of this work. On this episode of Skeleton crew, though decades may have passed, the bones are alive with many stories to tell. (less)

It was a flood of biblical proportion rampaging for two months, cutting a swath across 9 Midwestern states killing 50 pe... (more)

It was a flood of biblical proportion rampaging for two months, cutting a swath across 9 Midwestern states killing 50 people and destroying or damaging 55,000 homes. Hardin, Missouri, population a little over 600, was a small, close-knit farming community. Residents watched over each other and their history by taking exceptional care of the local cemetery where their ancestors rested. What the inhabitants of this small Missouri town came to realize was that the Great Midwest Flood of 1993 would have the ability to unearth the dead as the Missouri river flowed three and a half miles over its banks. The floodwaters ate through the Hardin cemetery, unearthing hundreds of headstones, vaults and caskets, sending them through the streets and fields of Ray County. As the disaster unfolded, a special team comprised of local volunteers and forensic anthropologists, pathologists and other specialists brought together by DMORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team) came from as far away as Washington, D.C. in a massive effort to recover, identify, and repatriate the hundreds of individuals exhumed by the floodwaters. On this episode of Skeleton Crew, Dr. Elizabeth Murray and some members of this unique crew will re-explore the extraordinary efforts that were undertaken to once again bring to rest the displaced remains, and provide closure for the living. (less)

From as early as 1876, there were rumors of ghosts inhabiting the building that now houses the Cincinnati Symphony, so w... (more)

From as early as 1876, there were rumors of ghosts inhabiting the building that now houses the Cincinnati Symphony, so when a night watchman would tell of his sightings nearly 100 years later, many thought he was just adding to lore. But then in 1988 when construction workers were working in one of the elevator shafts, they uncovered hundreds of pounds of skeletal remains in an underground crypt. Dr. Elizabeth Murray was eventually entrusted with the bones and set about to solve the mystery; how did these bones end up where they did and who might these individuals be? Records would eventually indicate that the original building that would eventually become today's Music Hall was built atop the city's nineteenth century public burial ground for commoners and indigents. The bones themselves would paint a picture of Cincinnati's first settlers. On this episode of Skeleton crew, Dr. Elizabeth Murray will take us back in time and tell us how she, as a forensic anthropologist, along with the assistance of a small crew of experts, was able to solve this mystery. (less)