“It’s my policy not to discuss these cases so they can be handled appropriately in court,” Bowman said.
Rowden confirms that the former coroner didn’t perform x-rays.
“I could have sworn Susan Boone told me that she was going to do an x-ray,” Rowden says. “But then I found out she didn’t, and that made me mad. So I called her back and she said that she could examine the internal organs more thoroughly by hand than by doing it with x-ray.”
Besides x-raying Ostermeier’s body, investigators also want to know how and when her skull was damaged.
After the coroner took custody of Ostermeier’s body, which was found in a bedroom, Springfield Fire Department records show that remains, possibly skull fragments, were found on the bed where Ostermeier was found, near where her head had been, and the coroner was recalled to collect additional evidence.
Rowden says that Boone told her that Ostermeier’s body was found without a skull. But Chief Deputy Jack Campbell of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office says that’s not the case.
“I saw the photos,” Campbell says. “The skull was heavily damaged.”
Campbell says that investigators don’t know when the damage occurred. Heat could have fragmented the skull, it could have been damaged before the fire started or firefighters might have accidentally damaged it, he said.
Bowman did not describe the skull’s appearance in her autopsy report, which is less
than two pages long.
Speaking generically, Dr. John Ralston of Springfield, a forensic pathologist, says that fire alone can damage a skull, and a close examination of damaged bone generally settles questions about timing.
“You can usually get an idea as to whether the damage was pre-mortem or post-mortem,” Ralston said.
Although Ostermeier’s nude body was charred, investigators collected swab evidence to help determine whether she might have been sexually assaulted. Authorities won’t disclose test results.
“I don’t want to talk about specific evidence,” says Sangamon County state’s attorney John Milhiser. “We’ve been in discussions with pathologists, and the investigation continues. It is by no means over.”
Campbell said that detectives are reviewing files.
“We’re going back to make sure we don’t miss anything,” Campbell said. “We were handed a difficult scene, and we’ve made the best of it. Obviously, every day that goes by makes it more difficult. It’s certainly solvable.”
Although the deaths have not been officially labeled homicides, Milhiser sounds like a prosecutor in pursuit.
“This is a tragic case, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure those responsible are brought to justice,” the state’s attorney said.
Investigators have leads Springfield Fire Department records show that smoke was so thick that a pedestrian guided fire engines to the burning rental home at 710 W. Maple Ave. in a pocket of unincorporated territory just outside Springfield.