Harvard professor's body now positively identified
freerepublic.com
News/Current Events
Source: The Boston Globe
Published: 12/23/2001 Author: David Abel
Posted on 12/23/01 8:15 AM Pacific by boston_liberty
decomposed body found in the Mississippi River in Louisiana this week was positively identified yesterday as Don C. Wiley, a biochemist at Harvard University who disappeared in Memphis five weeks ago.
Medical officials in Memphis confirmed the identity using dental records, after an autopsy Friday.
O.C. Smith, the medical examiner of Shelby County, told police the cause of death probably would be determined this week.
''Right now, we're not sure why he died,'' said Lieutenant Walter Norris of the Memphis Police Department's homicide squad. ''We're waiting for the results from the autopsy.''
Wiley, 57, was last seen alive shortly before midnight Nov. 14 at the Peabody Hotel, where he attended a banquet with members of a scientific advisory board of St. Jude's Research Hospital.
At 4 a.m., police found his rented Mitsubishi Galant parked in the middle of a mile-long bridge spanning the Mississippi River with the keys in the ignition and a full tank of gas. There were no signs of a struggle.
Wiley's body was found Thursday snagged on a tree in a log-strewn tributary of the river, which ran through a hydroelectric plant in Vidalia, La., about 300 miles south of Memphis. Police found a wallet with Wiley's identification with the body.
The professor did not leave a suicide note, and family, friends, and colleagues said he would not commit suicide. Wiley, who had four children, was widely recognized for his contributions in explaining how viruses cause diseases. The professor had been honored with two of the most coveted prizes in science, the Lasker Award and Japan Prize.
Because he had studied the Ebola virus, Wiley's disappearance raised the possibility of a terrorist connection, which was rejected by investigators. |
