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Family gets closure after DNA match
DNA technology ends a 35-year search, identifying remains found in Indiana as Michael Benjamin Davis from South Carolina.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina family finally has some feeling of closure after spending nearly 35 years wondering what happened to their loved one.
Michael Benjamin Davis was born in Richland County in 1965.
After growing up in Columbia, Davis moved with his family to Canada, then spent time in California and eventually joined a traveling carnival somewhere in the Midwest.
By 1988, his family had lost track of his whereabouts. Then, in 1993, children playing in a farmer’s field near Greenwood, Indiana, discovered what were later determined to be human bones. Fast forward over 30 years, and that field is now a golf course. DNA technology has revealed that the bones found by those children belong to Michael Benjamin Davis.
Michael Vogen is with Othram, a company that uses a first-of-its-kind DNA system to help law enforcement solve cold cases.
“We look at hundreds of thousands of markers of DNA to basically build these high-performing profiles that can then be used for a number of different tools. And you can use these profiles, if done the correct way, to detect very distant relationships in these databases and then reverse engineer your way back to the direct family from which the DNA originated, and that’s what we did in Michael’s case,” Vogen said.
Vogen said Othram compared Davis’s DNA with samples from several public databases including 23andMe.
After Davis’s remains had been identified, Johnson County, IN Chief Deputy Coroner Derek Wilson and Assistant Deputy Coroner Valerie Castro contacted Davis’s surviving relatives.
“You know, it’s the call that we wait on. We were wondering, who was this person? You know, you wonder, who is he, what was he like? What did he do? And we had to put ourselves in his shoes and look at things like it was 1993 again,” Wilson said.
Thursday, Laurie Pineda traveled to Greenwood, Indiana, from Florence to collect her cousin’s remains.
“We may not know what Michael’s last days were like or how he came to his demise. But we know it’s him now, and our family can rest assured. We’re not wondering and searching or worrying anymore. So, for that, we’re deeply grateful to everyone,” Pineda said.
The Greenwood Police Department says the investigation into Davis’s death is not over.
They hope that with the public’s help, they can fill in the missing pieces of Davis’s final days.
Prosecutors charged 45-year-old Trevor Joseph Wunderlich with second-degree murder in the death of his 68-year-old mother, Charlene Gail Wunderlich.
HUGO, Minn. — The man who was the “person of interest” in the north metro search Monday night was charged Thursday morning in the murder of his mother.
Prosecutors charged 45-year-old Trevor Joseph Wunderlich with second-degree murder in the death of his 68-year-old mother, Charlene Gail Wunderlich.
According to court documents, Washington County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call from a home in the 15000 block of Ingersoll Ave. at approximately 5:55 p.m. on Sept. 16.
Dispatchers said they “could hear noises on the line consistent with an ongoing assault or struggle.”
When deputies arrived they found Charlene Gail Wunderlich on the kitchen floor severely injured, according to the criminal complaint. Deputies tried to “detain the defendant, but he ran into the basement of the home and fled out a rear door.”
Charlene Gail Wunderlich told the deputies that her son beat her before she lost consciousness. She was rushed to the hospital but died from her injuries.
Law enforcement agencies across the metro launched a manhunt for Wunderlich. Sheriff’s officials warned the public not to approach him as he was considered dangerous.
Just before 11 a.m. Tuesday, a resident in the 9800 block of 152nd St. N saw a man matching Wunderlich’s description in their trailer. KARE 11 spoke to the woman who owns the trailer, and she says her dogs were growling at the trailer, and when she opened the door Wunderlich was sleeping inside.
The woman said she screamed to her son who was working on the property to call 911. Her son had a brief conversation with Wunderlich and then Wunderlich ran down the road with no shoes to another property where, according to officials, police arrested him.
According to court documents, in 2021 Wunderlich was sentenced to 203 days in prison for violating a domestic abuse no-contact order. While serving that sentence, he was convicted of fourth-degree assault against a correctional officer.
The FDA recently approved the first pill to help symptoms of postpartum depression.
Having a baby is an exciting time in many parents’ lives. But for some parents, that excitement can come with postpartum depression and other emotions that can be difficult to talk about.
Dr. Lisa Saul, the national medical director of women’s health at UnitedHealthcare, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to share tips for parents and loved ones affected by postpartum depression.
First of all, what is it? The Mayo Clinic states that postpartum depression usually begins during or up to a year after a pregnancy. The symptoms include depressed mood, mood swings, crying excessively, difficulty bonding with the baby, withdrawing from friends and family, feelings of worthlessness, and additional symptoms.
The experience is more common than you might expect, as it affects up to 15% of people, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In August, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first pill to treat postpartum depression. This medication may lessen symptoms.
Saul also recommended talking about your feelings to loved ones and healthcare providers for support.
August was a promising month for employers, as 14,400 jobs were added.
Minnesota employers logged a remarkable August as they recorded the largest monthly increase in jobs in two years, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
In August, employers added 14,400 jobs. Employment grew by 0.5% in the state, exceeding the national average of 0.1%, according to DEED’s release. Unemployment rates increased to 3.3%, which still is lower than the national rate of 4.2%.
“We added the most jobs in a single month in two years, reflecting employers’ ongoing appetite to hire more workers,” DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek said in a statement. “September is Workforce Development Month in Minnesota, offering a reminder of the initiatives underway to invest in our economic future by recruiting and retaining workers and making sure Minnesota is creating the jobs of the future right here at home.”
Leisure and Hospitality jobs saw the most growth in Minnesota in August, increasing by 1.6%. Education and Health Services and Professional and Business Services also saw notable increases.
As for wages, DEED reported that the average private sector hourly wage is $37.74, which is a 5.9% increase over this year.
“Wage growth has consistently outpaced inflation, which is a good thing as we work to attract and retain talented workers for our labor force,” said Labor Market Information Director Angelina Nguyen in a statement.
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