Monday, May 10, 2010 | 9:33 a.m.
The Clark County Coroner's Office on Wednesday will exhume the body of a man killed in 1997 with hopes that he can be positively identified through DNA testing.
The coroner's office received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department to launch a program to help solve missing persons cases through DNA tests. The coroner's office will review its 160 unidentified death cases to determine which could be solved with DNA testing, then about 50 cases will be selected.
In the first such case on Wednesday, the coroner's office will exhume the body of a man believed to be Antonio Marino, of El Salvador. The body was found March 4, 1997, in an open desert area southeast of Cheyenne Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard North. Authorities said he was likely homeless.
The program's goal is to apply the latest forensic testing to cold cases to bring closure to families.
“There’s no one to speak for these people, but if we can apply today’s science to yesterday’s cases, we may be able to identify them and give families or loved ones the answers they’ve been searching for,” Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said in a statement.
The coroner’s office has also identified 32 missing persons since 2002 when it launched its Las Vegas Unidentified website, which post details of missing person cases.
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