The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE - A second look at human remains found 16 years ago in southwestern Jefferson County helped solve a mystery.

The remains, found in 1988, were initially classified as an African-American girl who had been killed and buried amid construction debris in the mid-1970s.

Dr. Emily Craig, a forensic anthropologist with the state medical examiner's office, put that theory to rest. Craig examined the bones using updated technology and concluded that the remains were at least 100 years old and the construction debris was the remains of a coffin.

Last week, Craig sent a letter to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office saying the 1988 case needed to be reclassified.

"It is not a 'modern' homicide of a teenager," she wrote. "It is a disturbed grave, most likely from the mid or late 1800s."

Craig has recommended to the coroner's office that the remains be reburied in a cemetery. Craig's letter was forwarded from the coroner's office to Louisville Metro Police.

"It was listed as an unsolved homicide, but it'll be changed now," Lt. Mike Veto said.

Craig isn't sure how Dr. David Wolf, who died in the early 1990s, reached his conclusion about when the girl died.

"Mistakes happen, that's all I know how to say it," she said. "It's good that it's been cleared up. It's unfortunate that the agency had to carry it as an unsolved homicide for all of these years."

The remains were found on Labor Day 1988 by four boys digging in a spot where they played behind their homes in a subdivision.

The case was cold when Craig pulled it; she wanted to review it after Todd Matthews, a volunteer with the Doe Network, which tries to identify remains, sent her a question about it. Matthews needed more information other than age, race and gender.

Matthews and another volunteer wondered whether the remains in the Louisville case could belong to a missing North Carolina girl. That's when Matthews asked Craig for more information, he said Wednesday.

The remains and debris looked older than listed, Craig said, prompting her to seek out experts. Philip DiBlasi, in the archaeology department of the University of Louisville, sent Craig his findings last week.

DiBlasi speculated that the nails, commonly known as square or horseshoe nails, date to between 1860 and 1880 and "suggest a simple coffin."

Both DiBlasi and Craig agree that the body was positioned as if it were in a coffin.

"The bones had simply deteriorated to the point the thin bones of the skull were gone," Craig said. "I was amazed that they didn't come to that conclusion when she was first found."