Sequence of Events - Kentucky Medical Examiner Media Release

April 11, 2008
Dr. Emily Craig, Ph.D.
State Forensic Anthropologist
Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office
100 Sower Blvd., Suite 202
Frankfort, KY 40601

July 4, 1998:
Miguel Angel Garcia last seen alive by his mother on July 4, 1998. On Sept 14, 1998, she reported him missing to the Duval County, Texas Sheriff's Office.

Feb. 21, 1999:
Skeletal remains found in Henry County, Kentucky
Investigation team included:
Henry County Coroner: Jimmy Pollard
State Forensic Anthropologist: Dr. Emily Craig
State Medical Examiner: Dr. Barbara Weakley-Jones
(canine search)
Kentucky State Police: Detectives Jim Griffin & Brad Bates

October, 2000
Investigation leads to the arrest of 4 suspects in the murder of unidentified male. Murder reportedly occurred in Louisville, Kentucky in July, 1998. Identity of the victim is still unknown.

December 2002:
Trial held for the murder of "Unidentified Male, case FA-99-09"
Commonwealth of Kentucky vs
Patrick W. Meeks, 32
Michael Anthony "Tony" Peak, 33
Leann E. Bearden, 32
Meeks and Peak convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, and tampering with physical evidence.
Bearden found guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and robbery.

February, 2003:
Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office sends bone samples from case FA-99-09 to the FBI Laboratory's National Missing Person DNA Database (NMPDD) located in Quantico, VA. A bone was processed for a mitochondrial DNA profile and uploaded into the Unidentified Human Remains index within the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

June 30, 2007:
Information on unidentified skeletal remains from Henry County, Kentucky (FA-99-09) uploaded to new Unidentified Decedent Reporting System http://www.NamUs.gov This National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, NamUs, is the first national online repository for missing persons records and unidentified decedent cases. It was launched in July 2007 by the Office of Justice Program's National Institute of Justice.

Dec. 27, 2007:
Texas Ranger Sergeant Ray Ramon begins investigating leads regarding the disappearance of Miguel Angel Garcia, in cooperation with the Duval County Sheriff's Office in San Diego, Texas. The mother and brother of Miguel Angel Garcia are re-interviewed by Ranger sergeant Ramon and Duval County Sheriff's Office regarding disappearance.

Dec. 31, 2007:
Emily O'Hern, Research Specialist with the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Persons Clearinghouse Section was assigned to assist Sergeant Ramon in this investigation.

Jan. 15, 2008:
Sergeant Ramon obtains DNA from the mother of Miguel Angel Garcia and submits her DNA to the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas for inclusion in the Biological Relatives of Missing Persons index within CODIS.

March 3-21, 2008:
A volunteer with the Doe Network http://www.doenetwork.org/ sends a notice to Dr. Emily Craig with the Kentucky State Medical Examiner's Office of a possible match. Dr. Craig found out that Emily O'Hearn (Texas DPS) was already on top of it because of a similar notice from another Doe Network volunteer. The Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Persons Clearing House was investigating because of similarities in web-posted case files of Henry County skeletal remains (FA-99-09) and missing person, Miguel Angel Garcia.. Emily O'Hern is conducting the follow-up investigation with Sergeant Ramon. Sergeant Ramon contacts Dr. Emily Craig who sends him additional dental information from the Kentucky Medical Examiner case files. Two sources of dental comparative information were now available at http://www.namus.gov/ and the Texas Department of Public Safety (NIC M179470577)

March 28, 2008:
Sergeant Ramon obtains a copy of the antemortem dental chart from the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio, Texas. The dental chart was from Dr. E.C. McCall's Office in Kingsville, Texas. This chart was dated Sept. 2, 1988.

March 31, 2008:
Sergeant Ramon met with Dr. McCall who was able to identify eight characteristics from the dental classification (chart) uploaded from the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office. Dr. McCall requested x-rays from Kentucky while he attempted to locate his 1988 file in Kingsville, Texas. The Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office had just uploaded dental x-rays on the unidentified case FA-1999-09 to the public access photo pages of http://www.namus.gov/ . This allowed immediate review.
Sergeant Ramon contacts Emily Craig, Kentucky State Medical Examiner's Office with information about the probable identification of Miguel Angel Garcia. The antemortem dental chart for Miguel Angel Garcia was sent via facsimile to Kentucky for comparison. An almost perfect match was confirmed by Dr. Mark Bernstein, University of Louisville School of Dentistry.

April 3, 2008:
Previously submitted Mitochondrial DNA profiles from the mother of Miguel Angel Garcia and Henry County case FA-99-09 undergo analysis by the FBI Laboratory DNA Analysis Unit.

April 9, 2008
Identification of Miguel Angel Garcia based on comparative dental analysis and mtDNA associations.

April 11, 2008
Sergeant Ramon notifies the family of Miguel Angel Garcia and original investigators with the Duval County Sheriff's Office of the identification.