I know of a family in Wernhout, Netherlands, whose daughter went out to play in 1976. The girl was ten years at the time. She never returned. Her parents always kept the doors unlocked, in case she would return. Her younger brother bought the house of his parents, before they passed away. He did the same. He passed away too. Sadly, she never returned home. It is better to lose someone to death, than not knowing what happened. Her family was eaten alive by living between fear and hope.
Agreed. I saw my older sister's lifeless body when she passed. Not easy, but I have no unanswered questions about the cancer that caused her death. Emotions come and go, erratically, but not constantly like a missing person's family must feel.
I can't imagine any of my loved ones missing...the not knowing what happened to them or where they are would be just horrible. I would feel stuck like you can't move on even though I know the families of the missing eventually do move on but I am sure it is very difficult. Glad his family finally has answers.
20 years ago my 29yr old cousin went to store to buy a pack of smokes haven't been seen since, her twin misses her, her momma, and 3 children miss her. The whole family does. I'm glad they found out the truth about Mike the unknown is heartbraking 😢
Have the police been any help as as of late in trying to find him? It seems like departments across every state are receiving funds to open cold case units. Its worth a shot. I can’t imagine not knowing what happened to a loved one!
Are there any bodies of water near by? There’s a chancel here on RUclips that have been solving several missing persons cases by searching bodies of water near where people have went missing. They find their vehicles and the person in the water. So sad how many people this happens to
What does him being “handsome” have anything to do with his death? You’re creepy. Keep your mouth shut when you’re tempted to say ridiculous stuff like that.
I really don't understand how this happens. You don't need to be an anthropologist to know there should be 3 skulls 6 feet, legs, arms, and hands. 3 jawbone and pelvic bones wtf. If they truly were burnt down to nothing then how the hell could they say for certain the 2 were there but not the other. What a bizarre case.
@@bradsanders407 Coroners are not necessarily medical doctors in some states. Shoddy work by at least one person involved. Count the femurs, count the skulls, count something. All those years of unnecessary grieving about where her son’s remains were. Unbelievable.
@Eucharist Angel Where in my comment did I say everyone went to heaven?? You are an idiot. Don't go putting word into my mouth. Because its obvious your ass is going to hell!!
I don’t understand how the medical examiner didn’t notice that there were too many skulls or too many pelvises or just bones in general. Knowing that he was camping with these two guys, they automatically should’ve been looking to see if Mike was in fact in the fires rubble. Glad they finally know, unfortunately his Mom obviously went to her grave not knowing.
Burned people don’t look like people. Some bones are ash. If there wasn’t 3 pelvises etc you couldn’t know back then. They were just saying so on a crime podcast, about another case, the retired police forensic person said so
@@jeffjones3040 They probably died of smoke inhalation or the fire spread so quickly that it burned them to death before they could escape. Either way it's a horrific way to die.
I'm glad the family got answers. I can't imagine how tough it was for them esp the mother not knowing what happened to their loved one. RIP to all three young men.
@dbcooper4771 Hmmm. Like maybe it was a triple murder and the fire was just to cover up the true crime. One head was taken then?!?!? Wtf. I understand an old dry cabin can burn quickly, but how do 3 healthy in-shape young men not escape? Seriously?
Yes, the remains of all three were jumbled at the scene of the fire, mixed in together, and whoever separated them did a poor job, dividing the remains into two sets when there were actually three sets of burned bones. Given that a the coccyx/ sacrum generally isn't destroyed even by cremation, I don't understand how such a mistake was made.
It's too bad that the bones weren't sent to someone else to confirm how many bodies were there. The answer might have been discovered then and saved his family from years of not knowing.😊
I really don't understand how this happens. Did they think one of the people was a siamese twin? I don't get it. Then again this is the state that brought us the Delphi investigation and the Talyor University switcheroo.
I agree. I'm really really not trying to down the investigation that was done. But it seems to me, that if they had done this thorough, they would have known there were just too many bones for two boys.
@@cathygonzalez3734 For too long the families and friends of victims took it for granted that when any type of search was conducted by law enforcement if was thorough and meticulous. *THAT WAS A LIE.* The proof is all these volunteer civilian search & recovery groups finding bodies all over the place. LE doesn't even bother to look. The Kiely Rodni case is a text book example.
My brother's Daughter only 18 months old his beautiful fiancé, her sister and thier Mother had passed away in a house fire that was set by an arsonist. Now a cold case unsolved for 32 years we have no idea who the person is that set the fire on deliberately. It wonderful when a case is solved and the families can have closure
I wonder what led to exhumation after 5 decades. What horrible job by the lazy investigators ,I am sure there are other similar cases. RIP Mike .Stanley and Jerry
I can't even imagine what it would be like to experience this horrible tragedy. RIP Mike aa I know you have been. You're with your loved ones again who've also passed.
cabins can be dangerous. they are often not maintained like a house and may not be up to code. people are relaxed and let their guard down. you should really walk the cabin and double check that everything is in order. when i was a kid six young people died on a ski trip while spending the night in a cabin. one of the young men lived on my street. i think he was only 19 years old. it was a propane leak. they all died in their sleep. RIP and to ❤the family in this story
I was actually thinking there was a miraculous conclusion when the sister said they were "happy".....it sounds more like relief for closure because now they know.
A really hot fire! Sounds like some remains were completely cremated, so maybe they just had 2 skulls, and the other was completely burned to ash etc and it was no dna back then. I'm not sure how they assumed it was the remains of those 2 and that one of them weren't missing.
@oahuhawaii2141 Obviously, not all the bones were incinerated. Actually I just looked this up, and you're wrong. They can hey dna from the ashes of cremated individuals.
Glad to see that the family can obtain closure in a surprisingly peaceful way. It's a rare thing to happen in this fashion, may it bring peace on multiple levels to multiple people involved.
How can you declare there were 2 bodies? 2 or 3 skulls, 2 or 3 spines, 4 or 6 legs, arms? I would certainly like to see that autopsy report. Were they crushed by the ceiling/roof? Im very curious about this. At least his family has closure.
Their remains were destroyed in the fire due to it being so hot. All they had to work with wasn’t intact like you would think. Hotter the fire the more it destroys the bones.
Back then everyday household items were mostly made out chemicals we don't use anymore and when they burned the smoke was particularly toxic...breathe that for too long & it won't matter how healthy you are; you're done.
@@tonye4176 I'm sure that's a strong possibility too, however it is worth pointing out that since the time of the incident, we have come a long way with making products safer and from less toxic (and sometimes flamable) chemicals. My only point is that a house fire in 1972 would be more lethal than a similar house fire now by virtue of the fact that now everyday household items are not made with the same dangerous materials they once were. Which is not to say that all household materials today are a lot safer than back in the early 70's, but most are. In the 50 years or so since this fire many advancements have been made in the manufacturing of everyday household products - specifically the materials being used are not as toxic when they burn, and in some cases burn slower (less flamable) In short: if a very similar fire happened today, there's a wider margin of survivablility due to years of product safety development. Don't get me wrong, people die in fires all the time, but today you have a higher chance of getting out [of a house fire] before it's too late. That's all I'm saying.
Oh wow, incredible, that all this time, no one else questioned remains. I’m curious who didnt know how to count bones properly. I’m sad for his family they spent all this time wondering. I’m happy for the family they have answers. my sincere condolences to Mikes family 🙏🙏🙏
This sort of mixup happens more often than we realize. The body of Amelia Earhart may have been recovered not that long after her disappearance, but the skeleton was identified as male and then lost.
Pretty shoddy police work, 50 years ago. Teeth don’t get destroyed in a fire. Even if all the bones and the 3 sculls were completely obliterated, how hard is it to count teeth? Guess they didn’t bother sifting through all of the ashes to see if there were more teeth than two of the victims could have had. And if investigators found proof of three victims in the two caskets, the cops 50 years ago should have noticed the same thing and saved this family from wondering what happened to their boy, all these years.
Not the job of cops. The coroner deals with the dead, figures out the count, and separates the remains. A forensic anthropologist is the specialist who finally re-examined the bones and ashes to sort out the 3 victims in 2 caskets. Other commenters have noted that the small cabin was made of old railroad ties: dry wood coated in tar-like creosote, which can burn at very high temperatures, and incinerate bodies like in a cremation. The cabin had a stove. The boys had been partying until 2AM before going to the cabin to sleep off the booze. They likely asphyxiated while asleep before being incinerated.
Other commenters have noted that the small cabin was made of old railroad ties: dry wood coated in tar-like creosote, which can burn at very high temperatures, and incinerate bodies like in a cremation. The cabin had a stove. The boys had been partying until 2AM before going to the cabin to sleep off the booze. They likely asphyxiated while asleep before being incinerated into ashes and small bone fragments.
It's hard to imagine to have to live with not knowing for fifty years. Not as bad as your government purposely leaving people behind after a war, but bad. That family endured the constant suspense all those years. Seems like the forensic examiner would have been more thorough, or have stated to the family that there's a possibility that he was actually in the fire scene.
Forensics had little to do with this mess. Even with fires (hot) they could have identified there were three bodies comprised in what remained. Remember the children lost in the "Or Lady of the Angels" school fire in Chicago, 1958. 92 children and three nuns. All 95 bodies were badly burned but Chicago had resources to count the dead, Brownstown did not.
@@mrlaw711I don't care if the town has only 2 people and neither are very intelligent, they should still be able to count to 3 . If they were just truly burnt down to nothing the how could you say for certain the 2 were there for sure? Of course it's indiana. The state that had one set of parents believing their kid was dead and another set of parents nursing someone else's kid back to health all the while their kid is dead and they missed her funeral.
When the partition of India/Pakistan happened, my Grandma moved from Pakistan to India. She was 10yrs old. 3 months later after she moved with her parents, one fine day she saw her older brother walking towards home and she started screaming ghost ghost because the whole family had believed that the son/brother had died during the partition war.
Prayers for Michael’s family my condolences and so glad that they finally got answers of this child and that they found him and now they have closure 😢❤♥️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Exactly! And how would they know who’s ‘bodies’ the bones belonged too if they didn’t have dna testing back then like they do now? How did they come to the conclusion that it was Sewell’s body that was “supposedly missing”? so any questions still 😅
What was the medical examiner smoking in 1971? It takes an incredible amount of heat to completely destroy a body. No way a cabin fire in the woods is going to generate that much heat.
@@a.w.thompson4001 I'm still not buying it. Look at the picture at 1:10. It wasn't a very big cabin so the fuel is limited, and it's not even completely burned. There are trees literally right next to the cabin walls and they're still there. The close tree hardly looks damaged. There's no way a fire hot enough to obliterate 3 bodies wouldn't completely consume the entire cabin and probably those trees too.
Okay....lot of unanswered questions that the reporter didn't bother to answer. Were they murdered? Was the fire deemed accidental? Were the remains mixed together because they were so badly burned? WTF?????
A sister gets answers after 51 years. So Mike's remains found so what I'm getting from this is 2 were buried in caskets and Mike's remains was in one of those caskets. Glad his sister finally got answers were Mike is-having unanswered questions is horrible. She and Mike look a lot alike. My condolences to her.
So now what - do double tomb stones go up on the graves of the two teens who were identified? It seems ghoulish that DNA testing on all of the bones from both graves would have to be done to recover Mike's remains so he could be buried separately, and who would pay for all of this to be done? Just so sad. Geez.
FYI, DNA doesn't survive a fire intense enough to incinerate bones to ashes and small fragments. The forensic anthropologist who re-examined the remains did a better job than the coroner. Even in this video, it reported that there definitely was 3 remains put in the 2 caskets, meaning they did a bad job of identifying and counting fragments 51 years ago. Certain bones or fragments survive a cremation fire, so it's just a matter of finding 3 sets instead of 2. For example, the base of the spine and knobs of strong bones are recognizable after cremation. [Thus, cremation remains are put into a cremulator to grind down the remains into a finer, but gritty powder.]
What The! All this time his remains were there? How was that missed? How was *three* sets of human remains missed? His poor mama, Holy Moly. Deep condolances to his family and friends. *RIP*
If that was my family member I think I'd try to find a little confront in knowing their remains were with friends and had already received what's thought of as a proper burial.
I'm wondering if any of the three smoked cigarettes? Also, this was in 1971...wouldn't they know back then how a fire got started? It seems odd that there's no mention of it.
The solution of these cold cases is a massive relief to those who knew the missing person Never underestimate the seriousness of solving these cases-- especially those involving criminal acts
My cousin is still gone and they tired the case without a body and lost. This is why they should train cadaver dogs in State forests and Nature preserves. Please, find our loved ones. How many would be found if they just had annual run once a year?
I know of a family in Wernhout, Netherlands, whose daughter went out to play in 1976. The girl was ten years at the time. She never returned. Her parents always kept the doors unlocked, in case she would return. Her younger brother bought the house of his parents, before they passed away. He did the same. He passed away too. Sadly, she never returned home. It is better to lose someone to death, than not knowing what happened. Her family was eaten alive by living between fear and hope.
Agreed. I saw my older sister's lifeless body when she passed. Not easy, but I have no unanswered questions about the cancer that caused her death. Emotions come and go, erratically, but not constantly like a missing person's family must feel.
That's very well expressed.
I can't imagine any of my loved ones missing...the not knowing what happened to them or where they are would be just horrible. I would feel stuck like you can't move on even though I know the families of the missing eventually do move on but I am sure it is very difficult. Glad his family finally has answers.
The family in the Netherlands, reunited with their missing daughter / sister in Heaven ✨️
20 years ago my 29yr old cousin went to store to buy a pack of smokes haven't been seen since, her twin misses her, her momma, and 3 children miss her. The whole family does. I'm glad they found out the truth about Mike the unknown is heartbraking 😢
🙏 🙏
My heart goes out to you and your family. I absolutely cannot fathom having a loved one go missing and never knowing what happened.
Have the police been any help as as of late in trying to find him? It seems like departments across every state are receiving funds to open cold case units. Its worth a shot. I can’t imagine not knowing what happened to a loved one!
Are there any bodies of water near by? There’s a chancel here on RUclips that have been solving several missing persons cases by searching bodies of water near where people have went missing. They find their vehicles and the person in the water. So sad how many people this happens to
🙏❤️🕯🕊
My condolences to the Mike's sister and relatives, Mike was a handsome young man. RIP Mike.
What f....kin idiots could not count 3 bodies.
What does him being “handsome” have anything to do with his death? You’re creepy. Keep your mouth shut when you’re tempted to say ridiculous stuff like that.
I'm glad this family can now get closure.🙏
You close on a house, you never close on a death. Smh…
RESOLUTION, but NEVER "closure".
What a shame they couldn't have figured this out years ago, so his poor Mom could find some peace.
She knew when she crossed over.
She knows now,she's with him.
That was my first thought. I'm thankful his sister found out.
I really don't understand how this happens. You don't need to be an anthropologist to know there should be 3 skulls 6 feet, legs, arms, and hands. 3 jawbone and pelvic bones wtf. If they truly were burnt down to nothing then how the hell could they say for certain the 2 were there but not the other. What a bizarre case.
@@bradsanders407
Coroners are not necessarily medical doctors in some states. Shoddy work by at least one person involved. Count the femurs, count the skulls, count something. All those years of unnecessary grieving about where her son’s remains were. Unbelievable.
Its great they finally figured it out, but very sad that his mama died not knowing what happened to her child. I am sure she met him in heaven though.
@Eucharist Angel Where in my comment did I say everyone went to heaven?? You are an idiot. Don't go putting word into my mouth. Because its obvious your ass is going to hell!!
@Eucharist Angel relax….no need to start a theological debate.
@eucharistangel4662 no & with an attitude like that you should think about it.
@eucharistangel4662 Just all dogs.
@randymillhouse791 What? Even if it's a joke. Nothing here to laugh over.
What a blessing Michael's sad fate has been discovered. Rest in peace, Mike.
I don’t understand how the medical examiner didn’t notice that there were too many skulls or too many pelvises or just bones in general. Knowing that he was camping with these two guys, they automatically should’ve been looking to see if Mike was in fact in the fires rubble. Glad they finally know, unfortunately his Mom obviously went to her grave not knowing.
In these rural communities you don't always have the most competent people. It was also 50 years ago. The forensic technology was not yet available.
Burned people don’t look like people. Some bones are ash. If there wasn’t 3 pelvises etc you couldn’t know back then. They were just saying so on a crime podcast, about another case, the retired police forensic person said so
@@M_SCthe femur is the hardest bone and it's not burning!! 🥴
Wow they have been together this entire time. They must’ve been huddled up together. I am am happy they considered this.
Yeah, sleeping. They clearly died of smoke inhalation and then burned
@@dezznutz3743 ....They must have been some REALLY HEAVY SLEEPERS!
Huddled up together? More like fused together! 😨
@@jeffjones3040 They probably died of smoke inhalation or the fire spread so quickly that it burned them to death before they could escape. Either way it's a horrific way to die.
My brother went missing 49 years ago. Still no idea what happened to him.
I'm glad the family got answers. I can't imagine how tough it was for them esp the mother not knowing what happened to their loved one. RIP to all three young men.
Friends huddled together knowing it was their last time together. Friends forever indeed. God bless them
I wonder why they didn't try to get out.
@@jeffjones3040they were trapped
@@Norfnorf12 ...How so?
Sad just 16 😢
I'm glad his family can be at some level of peace now knowing that he did not run away. He was an innocent.
Same.
I don't understand how this could have happened. No matter how charred the bodies were, there were three skulls.
I was thinking skulls, too. To completely incinerate three bodies to ashes would take a lot more than a wood fire.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe the roof partially or fully collapsed and his skull was crushed by falling roof beams
There wasn’t three skulls or they would have known there were three people! 😝😂😆😆😆 Smh…
@dbcooper4771 Hmmm. Like maybe it was a triple murder and the fire was just to cover up the true crime. One head was taken then?!?!? Wtf.
I understand an old dry cabin can burn quickly, but how do 3 healthy in-shape young men not escape? Seriously?
@@jeffreyb8770, these were railroad ties, creosote soaked wood. It would burn so hot that the bodies were mostly cremated.
So, I don’t get it.
We’re his remains there the whole time?
I wish they would frame the explanation a little better with just one cohesive statement.
Yes, the remains of all three were jumbled at the scene of the fire, mixed in together, and whoever separated them did a poor job, dividing the remains into two sets when there were actually three sets of burned bones. Given that a the coccyx/ sacrum generally isn't destroyed even by cremation, I don't understand how such a mistake was made.
It's too bad that the bones weren't sent to someone else to confirm how many bodies were there. The answer might have been discovered then and saved his family from years of not knowing.😊
I really don't understand how this happens. Did they think one of the people was a siamese twin? I don't get it. Then again this is the state that brought us the Delphi investigation and the Talyor University switcheroo.
My heart goes out to any child that was not protected!!
How exactly do you protect a kid from a cabin fire? Smoke detectors in cabins probably aren't much of a thing in present day let alone 51 years ago.
Was the fire from arson or was it accidental? How come they never mentioned how the fire started?
How could they not recognize 3 skulls?
This wasn't a cold case. This is a story of professional incompetence and of making a family needless suffer.
I agree. I'm really really not trying to down the investigation that was done. But it seems to me, that if they had done this thorough, they would have known there were just too many bones for two boys.
@@cathygonzalez3734 Are you a professional pathologist? That's such a stupid reply.
@@cathygonzalez3734 For too long the families and friends of victims took it for granted that when any type of search was conducted by law enforcement if was thorough and meticulous. *THAT WAS A LIE.* The proof is all these volunteer civilian search & recovery groups finding bodies all over the place. LE doesn't even bother to look. The Kiely Rodni case is a text book example.
My brother's Daughter only 18 months old his beautiful fiancé, her sister and thier Mother had passed away in a house fire that was set by an arsonist. Now a cold case unsolved for 32 years we have no idea who the person is that set the fire on deliberately. It wonderful when a case is solved and the families can have closure
Prayers to you. Bless their souls
May they rest in peace . And may God forever haunt that individual for there entire lives
What led them to exhume the bodies? Glad they did so this family can know the truth.
Good question 🤔
Same question
I wonder what led to exhumation after 5 decades.
What horrible job by the lazy investigators ,I am sure there are other similar cases.
RIP Mike .Stanley and Jerry
😢my condolences to the families
Certainly glad Mike's sister was able to find out what happened to her brother. A relief to her and other relatives I'm sure.
I can't even imagine what it would be like to experience this horrible tragedy. RIP Mike aa I know you have been. You're with your loved ones again who've also passed.
There's tens of thousands of these cases in God bless them all,us all🙏☮️🇦🇺
cabins can be dangerous. they are often not maintained like a house and may not be up to code. people are relaxed and let their guard down. you should really walk the cabin and double check that everything is in order. when i was a kid six young people died on a ski trip while spending the night in a cabin. one of the young men lived on my street. i think he was only 19 years old. it was a propane leak. they all died in their sleep. RIP and to ❤the family in this story
I’m so glad the family now knows what happen to him and where he is 🙏🙏
I was actually thinking there was a miraculous conclusion when the sister said they were "happy".....it sounds more like relief for closure because now they know.
Amazing work!
Dna has become very important in these cold cases.
@nitwitt50: FYI, DNA doesn't survive a fire intense enough to incinerate bones to ashes and small fragments.
How do you mess up that bad where you have to go and dig up the bodies 50 years later?
A really hot fire! Sounds like some remains were completely cremated, so maybe they just had 2 skulls, and the other was completely burned to ash etc and it was no dna back then. I'm not sure how they assumed it was the remains of those 2 and that one of them weren't missing.
@carladavis1473: DNA does not survive a fire intense enough to incinerate bones to ashes.
@oahuhawaii2141 Obviously, not all the bones were incinerated. Actually I just looked this up, and you're wrong. They can hey dna from the ashes of cremated individuals.
Thank God that they finally found out. Such a sad thing to happen to three lovely young lads!!!😢😢😢🙏🌹🙏🌹🙏🌹
Thank you for testing. Closure for family & friends. Prayers sent
Glad to see that the family can obtain closure in a surprisingly peaceful way. It's a rare thing to happen in this fashion, may it bring peace on multiple levels to multiple people involved.
Closure??? There's NEVER closure. Their pain is still raw. That'll NEVER change.
That's sad
Those poor boys x
May Mike's family finally R I P.
Unbelievable negligence.
There is a back story to this... who is alive to tell it? Strange that after all this time.
My heart goes out to people that's going through this I can only imagine May God be with anyone that's dealing with something like this
I am so happy that the family his sister has closer and peace now.
How can you declare there were 2 bodies? 2 or 3 skulls, 2 or 3 spines, 4 or 6 legs, arms? I would certainly like to see that autopsy report. Were they crushed by the ceiling/roof? Im very curious about this. At least his family has closure.
Rest in Paradise Mike, Jerry & Stanley.
It’s ridiculous that it took so long for them to take a second look. It was the only obvious explanation! Absolute incompetence!
Sounds ridiculous but I would sue. All the pain and suffering for fifty years and here they had him buried the whole time! 😮 Yep I'd sue!
Huh, a third skull. How did we miss that?
Their remains were destroyed in the fire due to it being so hot. All they had to work with wasn’t intact like you would think. Hotter the fire the more it destroys the bones.
@@crystalrusmisel1832 It. Was a. Joke.
May God Bless all of His Family members.
So strange and tragic
How do 3 young healthy men die in a fire like that?
Doesn’t add up
Back then everyday household items were mostly made out chemicals we don't use anymore and when they burned the smoke was particularly toxic...breathe that for too long & it won't matter how healthy you are; you're done.
@@kettle_of_chris you’d smell the fire burning, I’m sure they had time to escape
@@tonye4176 I'm sure that's a strong possibility too, however it is worth pointing out that since the time of the incident, we have come a long way with making products safer and from less toxic (and sometimes flamable) chemicals. My only point is that a house fire in 1972 would be more lethal than a similar house fire now by virtue of the fact that now everyday household items are not made with the same dangerous materials they once were. Which is not to say that all household materials today are a lot safer than back in the early 70's, but most are. In the 50 years or so since this fire many advancements have been made in the manufacturing of everyday household products - specifically the materials being used are not as toxic when they burn, and in some cases burn slower (less flamable) In short: if a very similar fire happened today, there's a wider margin of survivablility due to years of product safety development. Don't get me wrong, people die in fires all the time, but today you have a higher chance of getting out [of a house fire] before it's too late. That's all I'm saying.
Oh wow, incredible, that all this time, no one else questioned remains. I’m curious who didnt know how to count bones properly.
I’m sad for his family they spent all this time wondering. I’m happy for the family they have answers. my sincere condolences to Mikes family 🙏🙏🙏
Sometimes the answer is right in front of you and you have no idea. It happens esp with old cases.
This sort of mixup happens more often than we realize. The body of Amelia Earhart may have been recovered not that long after her disappearance, but the skeleton was identified as male and then lost.
Uh oh, transgender 😮
@@johneckert1365 No, scientific incompetence.
Pretty shoddy police work, 50 years ago. Teeth don’t get destroyed in a fire. Even if all the bones and the 3 sculls were completely obliterated, how hard is it to count teeth? Guess they didn’t bother sifting through all of the ashes to see if there were more teeth than two of the victims could have had. And if investigators found proof of three victims in the two caskets, the cops 50 years ago should have noticed the same thing and saved this family from wondering what happened to their boy, all these years.
Not the job of cops. The coroner deals with the dead, figures out the count, and separates the remains. A forensic anthropologist is the specialist who finally re-examined the bones and ashes to sort out the 3 victims in 2 caskets.
Other commenters have noted that the small cabin was made of old railroad ties: dry wood coated in tar-like creosote, which can burn at very high temperatures, and incinerate bodies like in a cremation. The cabin had a stove. The boys had been partying until 2AM before going to the cabin to sleep off the booze. They likely asphyxiated while asleep before being incinerated.
Those old wood cabins dry out and become a drafty tinderbox. It's almost perfect conditions for a fire to spread fast.
Other commenters have noted that the small cabin was made of old railroad ties: dry wood coated in tar-like creosote, which can burn at very high temperatures, and incinerate bodies like in a cremation. The cabin had a stove. The boys had been partying until 2AM before going to the cabin to sleep off the booze. They likely asphyxiated while asleep before being incinerated into ashes and small bone fragments.
Heartbreaking but I’m glad they final know what happened to Mike.
It's hard to imagine to have to live with not knowing for fifty years. Not as bad as your government purposely leaving people behind after a war, but bad. That family endured the constant suspense all those years. Seems like the forensic examiner would have been more thorough, or have stated to the family that there's a possibility that he was actually in the fire scene.
Forensics had little to do with this mess. Even with fires (hot) they could have identified there were three bodies comprised in what remained. Remember the children lost in the "Or Lady of the Angels" school fire in Chicago, 1958. 92 children and three nuns. All 95 bodies were badly burned but Chicago had resources to count the dead, Brownstown did not.
@@mrlaw711I don't care if the town has only 2 people and neither are very intelligent, they should still be able to count to 3 . If they were just truly burnt down to nothing the how could you say for certain the 2 were there for sure? Of course it's indiana. The state that had one set of parents believing their kid was dead and another set of parents nursing someone else's kid back to health all the while their kid is dead and they missed her funeral.
😮 wow how did they not see that 51 years ago 🤔🤔
When the partition of India/Pakistan happened, my Grandma moved from Pakistan to India. She was 10yrs old. 3 months later after she moved with her parents, one fine day she saw her older brother walking towards home and she started screaming ghost ghost because the whole family had believed that the son/brother had died during the partition war.
Just crazy. I’m glad his sister got to know the truth.
Prayers for Michael’s family my condolences and so glad that they finally got answers of this child and that they found him and now they have closure 😢❤♥️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Closure??? NEVER.
He was a handsome guy
We had a youth in my 6th grade class in 1955. One day he was in school, and the next day he was never seen again.
This kid likely was born in 1955 (or 1954) because he was 16 at the time of the fire in 1971.
The bodies were so burned they didn’t know they had too many leg, arms and skulls? There isn’t enough information for this story!
Exactly! And how would they know who’s ‘bodies’ the bones belonged too if they didn’t have dna testing back then like they do now? How did they come to the conclusion that it was Sewell’s body that was “supposedly missing”? so any questions still 😅
Such a shame this took so long. The poor family
What was the medical examiner smoking in 1971? It takes an incredible amount of heat to completely destroy a body. No way a cabin fire in the woods is going to generate that much heat.
Apparently the cabin was made of creosote-soaked railroad ties and would have burned fast and extremely hot.
@@a.w.thompson4001 I'm still not buying it. Look at the picture at 1:10. It wasn't a very big cabin so the fuel is limited, and it's not even completely burned. There are trees literally right next to the cabin walls and they're still there. The close tree hardly looks damaged. There's no way a fire hot enough to obliterate 3 bodies wouldn't completely consume the entire cabin and probably those trees too.
Three bodies in two caskets. Someone seriously dropped the ball. How awful!
Okay....lot of unanswered questions that the reporter didn't bother to answer. Were they murdered? Was the fire deemed accidental? Were the remains mixed together because they were so badly burned? WTF?????
A sister gets answers after 51 years. So Mike's remains found so what I'm getting from this is 2 were buried in caskets and Mike's remains was in one of those caskets. Glad his sister finally got answers were Mike is-having unanswered questions is horrible. She and Mike look a lot alike. My condolences to her.
Mike was in 2 caskets.
So now what - do double tomb stones go up on the graves of the two teens who were identified? It seems ghoulish that DNA testing on all of the bones from both graves would have to be done to recover Mike's remains so he could be buried separately, and who would pay for all of this to be done? Just so sad. Geez.
FYI, DNA doesn't survive a fire intense enough to incinerate bones to ashes and small fragments.
The forensic anthropologist who re-examined the remains did a better job than the coroner. Even in this video, it reported that there definitely was 3 remains put in the 2 caskets, meaning they did a bad job of identifying and counting fragments 51 years ago. Certain bones or fragments survive a cremation fire, so it's just a matter of finding 3 sets instead of 2. For example, the base of the spine and knobs of strong bones are recognizable after cremation. [Thus, cremation remains are put into a cremulator to grind down the remains into a finer, but gritty powder.]
Excellent.Thank you.
Sue Black writes about and investigates this sort of thing. She is a forensic anthropologist in Great Britain.
God bless. ❤❤❤ Prayers for the family.
Praise God.🙏
I was 16 in 1971.A very sad story.
What The! All this time his remains were there? How was that missed? How was *three* sets of human remains missed? His poor mama, Holy Moly. Deep condolances to his family and friends. *RIP*
The usual. Brilliant police work.
@nhmooytis7058: The police don't separate the bones from the ruins of a cabin fire. Duh!
My sympathy
May he RIP
Bittersweet to finally know.❤
If that was my family member I think I'd try to find a little confront in knowing their remains were with friends and had already received what's thought of as a proper burial.
Great job original detectives 🎉
I'm wondering if any of the three smoked cigarettes? Also, this was in 1971...wouldn't they know back then how a fire got started? It seems odd that there's no mention of it.
It's still sad that 3 young men died in a fire.
How tragic, three young lads gone. But l hope sister Linda finally has some peace now.
Rest In Peace young men.
🌹😔🌹. 🐾🌈☮️🇨🇦
I am so happy and sad for the family
Ineptitude. These poor family members made to suffer due to mere ineptitude.
I'm glad they are solving these cold cases.
Soo thankful that the families involved have closure may Mike and his two friends rest in piece and be home with God !!!
My Condolences to his family. RIP Mike
So obviously the incompetent coroner or whoever was that didn't know how to COUNT bones caused 50 years of pain to a family.
Undertaker: "Sorry, clerical error?!?"
The solution of these cold cases is a massive relief to those who knew the missing person Never underestimate the seriousness of solving these cases-- especially those involving criminal acts
Sadness.
My cousin is still gone and they tired the case without a body and lost. This is why they should train cadaver dogs in State forests and Nature preserves. Please, find our loved ones. How many would be found if they just had annual run once a year?
Closure is something important....not knowing will eat you alive.😢
You can still have a service without the body😢
I knew in about 5 seconds what happened. The fact that investigators took this long to determine that Sewell was in the cabin makes no sense.
3 skulls and sets of teeth weren't found during the original investigation? Shoddy investigation. Just my opinion.
Investigators must have been idiots....
May those who passed Rest In Peace May their families and friends find healing and peace blessings be
🙏🙏🙏🕊️ Prayers for the Family Members and Friends 🌹🙏❤️🙏🫶