S1E2 - "Lay Them to Rest" with author Laurah Norton

Update: 2024-02-23

Description

"Lay Them to Rest" with author Laurah Norton

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“This had been the thing that bothered me most from day one: Doe cases got the least coverage, even though they were the ones that needed it most. So, I filed a fresh batch of FOIAs on the unidentified dead, the ones whose case numbers I'd been tracking in NamUs and whose nicknames were set to Google Alerts: Julie Doe. Dennis Doe. Christmas Doe. When I got the very first file, I knew these were the cases I needed to write about, above all. There was no one out there advocating for them. No family holding a memorial for Jane Doe 1980. Or if there were, it was under a different name. But maybe their attention could be attracted and connected to the unidentified. After all, if you can construct a story with the pieces that death has left behind, someone might recognize the life that preceded them.”

Welcome to the Morbidly Curious Book Club’s Podcast! In this episode, we are discussing our February 2024 book pick, “LAY THEM TO REST: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless” by Laurah Norton.

About: A fascinating deep dive into the dark world of forensic science as experts team up to solve the identity of an unknown woman named “Ina Jane Doe,” exploring the rapidly evolving techniques scientists are using to break the most notorious cold cases, written by the host of the popular true-crime podcast, The Fall Line and One Strange Thing by Laurah Norton. Over the past six years, Laurah has worked tirelessly to cover unsolved murders, unidentified persons, and unexplained disappearances—-primarily those involving communities deprioritized by mainstream media or investigators. After she stumbled across the case of "Ina Jane Doe,” an unidentified woman whose decapitated head was found tucked in the brush of an Illinois park in 1993, Laurah has been more determined than ever to help this victim reclaim her identity so she can finally be laid to rest.

Laurah Norton is a writer and former academic with 15 years in the fields of literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and archival and primary research. Her work includes creation, writing, research, and hosting of podcasts ONE STRANGE THING and THE FALL LINE. Current literary projects include the book LAY THEM TO REST, and she is currently working on a suspense-thriller novel set in the early 2000s and tying together the Appalachian foothills of Georgia, folk magic, and forensic science. Other literary publications include fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction in journals and anthologies.

RESOURCES:
Purchase Lay Them to Rest: https://www.laythemtorestbook.com/

https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/frequently-asked-questions#11-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNx0drV5qhQ

https://www.peterstrain.co.uk/

https://clarksvillenow.com/local/what-happened-to-susan-lund-family-revisits-mystery-30-years-after-clarksville-womans-disappearance-death/

https://redgraveresearch.com/
https://redgraveresearch.com/index.php/cases/ina-jane-doe-illinois-1993

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNx0drV5qhQ&embeds_referring_euri=

https%3A%2F%2Fredgraveresearch.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

https://www.wnct.com/on-your-side/crime-tracker/cold-case-files/cold-case-files-the-disappearance-of-asha-degree/

https://www.murderdata.org/
https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Centimorgan

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Centimorgan)

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