Umina Beach jaw: Bones found on NSW Central Coast beach may belong to child killed by shark
A human jawbone found on a beach three years ago is now believed to have belonged to a 14-year-old boy who was killed by a shark in the 1930s.
The blackened skull fragment was discovered in June 2020 by a dog walker at Umina Beach on the central coast of New South Wales.
The jawbone was initially thought to belong to 15-year-old Donald Montgomery, whose body was never found after he fell overboard while on a boat at Ettalong in July 1940.
Authorities believed Donald drowned along with his father Samuel, who dove in to rescue the boy.
While the body of the father, a 47-year-old widower and cartoonist on the railways, was quickly recovered, Donald’s remains have never been found.
Dr Jen Raymond, research coordinator for the NSW Police Forensic Evidence and Technical Services Command, said a good sample of DNA taken from the bone has discredited the theory that it belonged to Donald.
The jawbone (pictured) was initially thought to belong to 15-year-old Donald Montgomery, whose body was never found after he fell overboard while on a boat at Ettalong in July 1940.
“Originally we thought we had solved the sad story of a 15-year-old boy who was out on a boat with dad when they got into trouble and they both drowned,” he told the outlet. sunday telegraph.
They never found the son. It was the right place, the right time, the right age. In older times, that might have been enough to satisfy a coroner.
“But now, through DNA testing, there is another potential candidate that could still be in contention. It’s another sad story of a 14-year-old boy being captured by a shark in the 1930s.’
The blackened skull fragment was discovered in June 2020 by a dog walker at Umina Beach on the central coast of New South Wales.
At the time the bone was found, police began a search of the area while pathologists confirmed that the jaw fragment was human.
Detective Inspector Ritchie Sim said the bone was black in color due to a mix of geological and environmental effects.
He said that during the investigation, the police were able to exclude several missing persons.
New genetic genealogy research helped put Dr. Raymond’s team on the right track to solving the mystery behind the jawbone.
Genetic genealogy is a new forensic technique used to identify missing persons and suspects when no match is available through current criminal DNA databases.
Scientists can search through large family relationships down to fourth or fifth cousins, whereas previous family tests could only determine connections between parents, children, and siblings.
Dr. Raymond said that research done on the teeth showed that the remains belonged to someone before the days of fluoridation in the 1950s.
She said the team is waiting for conclusive results after the DNA was sent for further testing to confirm the identity.
An extensive search was conducted at this time in the area where the mandible was found, but no further remains were located.
