by Alex Lloyd Gross
Potters Field is located on Dunksferry Road, hidden behind a clump of trees. It is not in operation any more but for a while, bodies that were not claimed by family members or those that died indigent were buried there. Some of those buried were victims of violent crimes.
Now, with the advent of DNA technology, it is possible to identify people and bring closure to family members who had no idea what happened to their loved ones. That is why Philadelphia Police and the FBI are working at that location to exhume eight bodies that the medical examiner had determined died in a violent nature.
According to Ryan Gallagher, the Assistant Director of the Philadelphia Police Department of Forensic Science, there are records that show where the bodies should be located. Just because they are law enforcement, does not give them the authority to dig in a cemetery. “We have to get permits and fill out paperwork. We only have a week to do this,” said Thomas Walsh, Lt. with the Homicide Unit.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo-Delaware Valley News.com FBI Agents get equipment from their vehicles.
“The FBI is providing resources and experience in doing this that we just do not have,” Walsh said. He said the longest buried body there that they are investigating was from 1962. The city got the funds to do this through a grant.
“Many people who find out what happened to their loves ones are relieved,” said Gallagher. Should the cases be ruled a homicide Lt. Walsh said they will go back and do “old fashioned police work” to solve the crime. He is confident they can do it.