A new wrinkle has been added to a 40 - yr - old execution mystery . AsThe Guardianreports , a brainless torso set up in an Idaho cave in 1979 has been identified as the remains of Joseph Henry Loveless . Loveless was an on the loose convict who murder his wife in 1916 , but the indistinguishability ofhiskiller remains unnamed .
The body was expose by a family looking for arrowhead in Buffalo Cave in Clark County , Idaho , on August 26 , 1979 . The dismembered torso was enwrap in a gunny sack anddressedin blue pants , a pinstriped shirt , and a maroon jumper . It had been buried in a shallow grave 18 inch cryptical .
At the death of 2019 , the typesetter’s case saw its first major find . Earlier that yr , Idaho State University and the Clark County police had arrive at out to theDNA Doe Project — a nonprofit that uses forensic family tree to key out remains — for its expertise . By building a genealogic Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and digging up historical records , they were capable to connect the body to Joseph Henry Loveless , a descendant of Mormon pioneers and a crook who was last seen escaping from jailhouse in 1916 .
Loveless used an ax to mangle his second wife , Agnes Octavia Caldwell Loveless , on May 5 , 1916 . By that time , he had already been arrested doubly for bootlegging and had escaped imprisonment bysawingthrough his jail bars . The DNA Doe Project reports [ PDF ] that one of Loveless ’s children was cite as saying at his mother Agnes ’s funeral : " Papa never stayed in jail very long and he ’ll soon be out . "
Loveless slipped out of his jailhouse cell on May 18 , 1916 , and was never seen alive by authorities again . His want poster described him as wear a red sweater and black trousers — the same vesture found on his body decade afterwards . This leads investigators to conceive that he died short after fly the coop jail in 1916 .
Clark County authorities contacted the 87 - year - old grandson of Joseph Henry Loveless , who now hold up in California , and asked for a DNA sample . Their analysis confirmed that the grandson is the direct descendent of the gentleman found in Buffalo Cave . Beyond that , Loveless ’s living relatives were n’t able to cater any leads , as they had n’t been aware of their ancestor ’s colorful history . For now , the case of the escaped manslayer ’s own grisly death remains open .
[ h / tThe Guardian ]
