Existing comment:
Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller:
As FBI Evidence Response Teams meticulously excavate the crater and canvas the debris field, Somerset County Coroner Wally Miller establishes a temporary morgue at a nearby National Guard armory. At the morgue, the federally deployed Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) processes the human remains using fingerprints, x-rays, dental records and ultimately, DNA. As a result, every person on the plane is positively identified.
In the months following the crash, many families of the passengers and crew come to know and trust Coroner Miller. In February 2002, he meets with them as a group to discuss the return of their loved ones remains and personal effects. He protects the site as a "coroner's scene" until 2005. The small town coroner develops a lasting bond with these families. |