Career Retrospective: ‘The Bone Lady’

Mary Manhein said that one of the most enjoyable parts of her career has been teaching thousands of LSU students about anthropology.

Mary Manhein and the FACES Lab are nationally known experts in forensic anthropology and facial reconstruction.

Attorney General of Louisiana Buddy Caldwell honors Mary Manhein during her retirement ceremony on April 17.

When she arrived at LSU in 1976 to study English, Mary Manhein was focused on sentence structures, Southern authors and completing her degree while raising two elementary school-age sons. More than 30 years later, as her career is winding down, Manhein is one of the most well-known forensic anthropologists in the nation thanks to her work assisting law enforcement agencies locally, regionally and nationally on cases of missing and unidentified persons.

Manhein, the former director of LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services, or FACES, Laboratory, officially retired from LSU in April 30, 2015. Manhein, who also serves as director of the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing Persons Information Program, said it is time to turn over the reins to the next generation.

“It has been the most amazing ride,” Manhein said. “In my youth, I could never have imagined such a career.”

Manhein was always intrigued by the science behind forensic anthropology, and her interest was first peaked as a senior English major at LSU.

“I took a class in anthropology when I was a senior and absolutely fell in love with it,” Manhein said. Over the years, Manhein has consulted on hundreds of forensic cases, including massive disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Isaac; Shell Oil and Exxon explosions and the resulting fires; and multiple, high-profile serial killer cases, to name a few. Her name is immediately associated with any human remains cases recovered from remote locations across Louisiana, earning her the moniker “The Bone Lady.”

“We wish Mary well in her retirement,” said LSU President F. King Alexander. “She has been a pioneer in the rising field of forensic anthropology. She’s helped to teach the next group of forensic anthropologists and has provided a great example of the dedication and tireless work it takes to help solve these cases. She has truly made an impact on Louisiana with her work on the missing person database and her efforts with law enforcement. We are going to miss having ‘The Bone Lady’ on campus.”

Manhein noted that the most rewarding part of her job has been working with the families of victims and help solve the many cold cases of unidentified persons.

“It is such a wonderful reward to help these families find their loved ones, to help these families get some peace,” Manhein said. “I feel as though I have made a contribution that means something … I’ve had so many opportunities in this world and this is just what I can do to give back to my community.”

After receiving her English degree, Manhein pursued a master’s degree in anthropology. She volunteered with anthropology professor Doug Owsley in the university’s new forensic anthropology lab and began working on forensic cases in 1981.

After Owsley left for a position at the Smithsonian, Manhein continued working in the lab, along with teaching in the evenings, and earned a research associate position in the department. In the early 1990s, Manhein christened the forensic anthropology lab as the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services, or FACES, Laboratory.

Shortly after, Manhein started pursuing her goal of building a comprehensive database for unidentified and missing people in Louisiana.

“With the help of so many people in 2006, we were able to formalize it,” Manhein said.

In 2006, Manhein initiated a state bill, which ultimately became a law, to create the comprehensive database. To date, it remains the most comprehensive state database of its kind in the entire country and has been successful in solving local cold cases and others from across the U.S.

“No other state has what we have because we are aggressively going out and seeking all cases that deal with unidentified people [and] all cases that deal with missing people,” Manhein said.

Manhein and the FACES Lab staff travel across the state to conduct workshops and meet with police departments to share information about Louisiana’s database. They work with local law enforcement agents, who add missing and unidentified cases into the system. The FACES lab, in turn, works with the agencies and families of the missing or unidentified persons to complete a DNA kit and crosscheck that information in the national missing persons’ database.

“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been able to do this because we have employees whose time is dedicated to doing it. That, in itself, is unique,” Manhein said.  “No other state has people going out and doing what we’re doing.”

Manhein noted that much of the success of the database is based on the DNA assistance the FACES Lab receives from the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory. The DNA profiles developed by the Crime Lab are then uploaded by the State Police into the national, Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, database for comparison with cases from across the country.

In addition to working with law enforcement, Manhein and the FACES Lab are nationally known experts in forensic anthropology and facial reconstruction. From time to time, the lab is brought in to help with cases that are more historical in nature.

“It still keeps you in the field,” Manhein said, “But it separates you completely from the devastation of working with family members of the missing persons. It’s a relief, yet it’s a scientific puzzle.”

Manhein, a self-proclaimed lover of puzzles and mysteries, has an interest in the cultural past and her research has included projects like the excavation of Civil War battle sites such as Port Hudson; archaeological work on the Louisiana State Capitol grounds; and salvage archaeology at historic cemeteries such as New Orleans’ oldest formal cemetery, Colonial St. Peter Street.

Manhein and the FACES Lab were also tapped to assist the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to complete facial reconstructions on two soldiers found aboard the Civil War vessel, the USS Monitor.

The project garnered international media coverage, and Manhein and some of her staff participated in the USS Monitor 150thanniversary celebration.

In a project closer to LSU campus, Manhein and her team were asked to help uncover a 2,300 year old mystery. They joined an international team of researchers to study the “Princess of Thebes” mummy in the Louisiana Art & Science Museum’s Ancient Egypt Galleryin downtown Baton Rouge in 2007.

After studying the mummy’s bone structure, Manhein and the FACES Lab were able to determine that the “Princess of Thebes” wasn’t a princess at all.

“The best determination is that she is a he,” Manhein said at the time.

The FACES Lab was also able to determine that the museum’s mummy was about 25 to 30 years of age at the time of death, stood between 5’5” and 5’6” and weighed about 124 to 132 pounds.

Manhein is a Fellow in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, a former deputy coroner for East Baton Rouge Parish and former member of the Louisiana Sentencing Commission. She is also a member of the national disaster recovery team known as DMORT and assisted with the recovery of the astronauts from the Columbia crash. Her forensic anthropology case work and research have been highlighted in numerous television programs and she has given hundreds of talks nationally. She has been invited to lecture at New Scotland Yard twice.

Manhein’s research has included publishing standards for facial tissue depths to assist with creating 3-D facial reconstructions of unidentified people. She also works on NSF-funded research on algorithms for computer restoration of fragmented skulls with Xin Li, who is joint appointed with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Center for Computation and Technology.

She has published three non-fiction books on her work, including “The Bone Lady,” “Trail of Bones” and “Bone Remains” through LSU Press. She has also delved into the world of fiction with “Floating Souls: The Canal Murders,” the first in a series of novels set in New Orleans. Added to these is a non-fiction manuscript she is co-authoring with Jessica Schexnayder, one of her undergraduate students, on endangered historic cemeteries in Louisiana’s coastal regions.

Manhein said that one of the most enjoyable parts of her career has been teaching thousands of LSU students about anthropology. She has been the recipient of various teaching awards throughout her years at LSU and has served as thesis advisor for close to 60 master’s students in anthropology. Additionally, she has been a co-advisor for 20 natural science master’s degree candidates.

Manhein’s future plans include writing, traveling with her husband, Bill, visiting family and contemplating a new career.

BY ERNIE BALLARD