A Tale of Dry Bones — William Mitchell Ross

On Labor Day weekend, 1980, Boy Scout Troop #101 scheduled a weekend campingtrip on the Schmidt farm located outside the City of Monroe, Wisconsin. As oneof the scouts was digging a fire pit on the edge of the grove, he unearthed skeletalremains. Everyone got excited speculating what those bones could be. The Scoutleader promptly called the police to report the finding.Upon inspection, Police Chief Brandon Johns called pathologist Dr. Ken to examinethe bones. When he arrived at the scene, he surmised that the bones were human andincredibly old and had them removed to the morgue for further analysis. Was this acrime scene or not? Would the police be willing to take on a cold case?Chief Johns and Detective Sam Gates contacted the Schmidt family who were inshock after the discovery and revealed a family secret that had haunted them since the1920s. Yes, they wanted an investigation to proceed to bring closure to the mystery.Given all the difficulties associated with solving a cold case, the police soldiered onin hopes of identifying the bones and the killer so the family could find peace. Afterinterviewing all the people who had any knowledge of the case, with all its twists, turns,and surprises, would they eventually learn the truth? Had a crime been committed? Toomany theories and insufficient facts stymied their efforts. Was this case a fool’s errand?