VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) - A northwestern Indiana sheriff has enlisted three dentists as forensic investigators, filling a need that includes matching bite marks to suspects and using dental records to identify bodies.
Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds recently swore in the trio as part of his department’s forensic dentistry team, an expertise he also used during two earlier terms as sheriff, from 1999 to 2007, the Post-Tribune reported (https://trib.in/1DvAF7G ).
“It’s vitally important for us, from an investigative standpoint, to have that caliber of expertise at our beck and call,” Reynolds said Thursday.
The dentists are team captain Jim Cahillane of Hobart, Gene Ranieri of Valparaiso, and Eric Pulver of Highland. Reynolds also called upon Cahillane as an expert when he was with the Portage Police Department and his earlier terms as sheriff.
When Reynolds was still in Portage, a murder victim bit one of the suspects in the back, and forensic dentistry helped identify him.
“We used them for rape cases, investigating bite marks,” he said of the dentists. He also used them to determine the identity of bodies. “They would come in and identify the victim based on their dental records, and that was really important for us.”
Reynolds said he expects the dentists will train the department’s investigators on preserving evidence and related matters this summer. The dentists will be on call with the sheriff’s department, and Reynolds said they could be called in two or three times a year. They also will work with Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris when necessary.
Cahillane, who has been a forensic dentist for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department for 37 years, said he and the other members of the team will be the “last line” to identify people from their remains.
“If we have an idea who the victim is, we can get complete dental records and compare them. It’s pretty cool,” he said.
One of the cases he’s worked on involved a suspect bitten by a victim.
“It seemed to me he had put his hand over the victim’s mouth and she bit him between the thumb and forefinger,” Cahillane said. The suspect claimed a dog bit him, but Cahillane believed the bite marks didn’t come from an animal. “There were other cases where people were bitten and we were able to take (dental) models and pictures and match them up to bite marks on the victims.”
The team also will help out if there are emergency dental needs at the Porter County Jail, Cahillane said.
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Information from: Post-Tribune, https://posttrib.chicagotribune.com/
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