Kathy Pinna
Benton corpse will need DNA tests to determine ID
DNA tests are needed to determine the identity of a dismembered corpse found Friday in Benton Township, though some physical evidence suggest the victim is a missing Grand Rapids Teen-ager, police said Tuesday. Berrien Undersheriff Gary Ruhl said an old gunshot wound on the corpse reportedly matches a wound suffered by Shamon Figures, 18, of Grand Rapids. He said the physical characteristics of the body matches Figures known height and weight.
But Dr. Stephen Cohle, a Grand Rapids forensic pathologist, will have to perform DNA tests to make a positive identification, since the body was found with no head, arms, or legs, Ruhl said. None of the missing body parts have been located. "There are no fingerprints or dental records, so he (Cohle) is going to have to do it with DNA< and that's going to take some time," Ruhl said.
The corpse was found Friday afternoon in a ravine at the end of Donald Adkins Drive near Fairplain Northeast Elementary School in Benton Township. Sherriff's Captain Mike Renkawitz in a prepared statement Tuesday said the victim died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest area, and that the person appeared to have been dead for about two weeks. Grand Rapids police earlier said Figures reportedly was put in the trunk of a car after being shot February 20 in an apparent drug-related incident at a Grand Rapids home. The car was discovered on fire February 21 on Riverside Avenue near the SouthWest Michigan Regional Airport in Benton Harbor, but Figures was not in the car. The body was discovered about two miles away. Ruhl said investigators believe the victim was not slain in the Benton Township ravine. "There's a lot of space between here and Grand Rapids, if it's the same person (Figures)," Ruhl said.
Terrell Clemmons, 20, of Benton Harbor, was shot and wounded in the February 20 incident. No arrests have been made.
- The Herald-Palladium on March 22, 1997, page 3. Written by Rick Brundrett.
But Dr. Stephen Cohle, a Grand Rapids forensic pathologist, will have to perform DNA tests to make a positive identification, since the body was found with no head, arms, or legs, Ruhl said. None of the missing body parts have been located. "There are no fingerprints or dental records, so he (Cohle) is going to have to do it with DNA< and that's going to take some time," Ruhl said.
The corpse was found Friday afternoon in a ravine at the end of Donald Adkins Drive near Fairplain Northeast Elementary School in Benton Township. Sherriff's Captain Mike Renkawitz in a prepared statement Tuesday said the victim died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest area, and that the person appeared to have been dead for about two weeks. Grand Rapids police earlier said Figures reportedly was put in the trunk of a car after being shot February 20 in an apparent drug-related incident at a Grand Rapids home. The car was discovered on fire February 21 on Riverside Avenue near the SouthWest Michigan Regional Airport in Benton Harbor, but Figures was not in the car. The body was discovered about two miles away. Ruhl said investigators believe the victim was not slain in the Benton Township ravine. "There's a lot of space between here and Grand Rapids, if it's the same person (Figures)," Ruhl said.
Terrell Clemmons, 20, of Benton Harbor, was shot and wounded in the February 20 incident. No arrests have been made.
- The Herald-Palladium on March 22, 1997, page 3. Written by Rick Brundrett.
