Two skulls were found in the region of Lake Spaulding in 1986 and Deputy Lowell Carlton was integral to both investigations. The first skull was found on January 19th 1986 by Deputy Lowell Carlton using search dogs after they had previously found a jawbone in the same area on December 31st 1985. The skull was found near to the jawbone, which was sitting alongside a mountainous county road by a fisherman on his way to Yuba Gap, a mile northeast of Interstate 80. This places the skull slightly east of Chubb Lake. The second skull was found by the Drum Canal Crossing on July 31st 1986 by two PG&E workers, approximately 500 feet above State Route 20 and 3.3 miles west of the first skull.
The skull found close to the jawbone by Chubb Lake appears to have no further mention on "missing people" sites. The NamUs page detailing the jawbone (maxilla) found on December 31st 1985 makes no mention of the skull being found in its proximity, despite newspaper coverage clearly detailing this. In fact, the NamUs page makes a point of stating "head not recovered", when this is patently not true (irrespective of whether the body parts are related to one another). The NamUs Unidentified Persons database was launched in 2007, with the NamUs case regarding the jawbone created on March 12th 2018, yet no skull was attributed alongside the jawbone. Recently, these two skeletal parts (primarily the skull) have been accepted as not those belonging to Donna Lass, in favor of the skull found by the Drum Canal Crossing, because the Agency Case Number 13226-86 of this skull listed on The Doe Network matches the number allocated to the desth certificate of Donna Lass, as correctly pointed out by Travis Miller.
The skull found close to the jawbone by Chubb Lake appears to have no further mention on "missing people" sites. The NamUs page detailing the jawbone (maxilla) found on December 31st 1985 makes no mention of the skull being found in its proximity, despite newspaper coverage clearly detailing this. In fact, the NamUs page makes a point of stating "head not recovered", when this is patently not true (irrespective of whether the body parts are related to one another). The NamUs Unidentified Persons database was launched in 2007, with the NamUs case regarding the jawbone created on March 12th 2018, yet no skull was attributed alongside the jawbone. Recently, these two skeletal parts (primarily the skull) have been accepted as not those belonging to Donna Lass, in favor of the skull found by the Drum Canal Crossing, because the Agency Case Number 13226-86 of this skull listed on The Doe Network matches the number allocated to the desth certificate of Donna Lass, as correctly pointed out by Travis Miller.
LAKE SPAULDING IN PLACER COUNTY Emigrant Gap, California, experiences a mountain climate with warm, occasionally hot summers with cool nights and cold, snowy winters. Situated in the Sierra Nevada, the region typically experiences pronounced seasons with significant winter precipitation, often reaching freezing temperatures, and mild to warm weather during the summer months. The soil around Lake Spaulding in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California is generally acidic to slightly acidic, consistent with the region's granitic and volcanic bedrock. The area is primarily underlain by granitic rock (Sierra Nevada Batholith), volcanic, and metamorphic sedimentary materials, which are generally resistant to weathering and tend to produce acidic soils. During spring snowmelt, the soil and lakes experience episodic acidification due to low concentrations of base cations and higher concentrations of acid anions in the meltwater. The high precipitation (approximately 65.8 inches annually) and coniferous forest vegetation (ponderosa pine-sugar pine-white fir) also contribute to the creation and maintenance of acidic soil conditions.
A skull buried or sitting on the surface in this region of Placer County will be exposed to these conditions throughout the year. Assuming that Donna Lass was not kept alive by her abductor for 13 or 14 years and then murdered, it is extremely likely she was murdered on, or slightly after September 6th 1970. If her body was dumped (or buried) in the area around Lake Spaulding in 1970, her skull would have been exposed to almost 16 years of weathering before it was found on July 31st 1986. The skull would have been exposed to constant wetting and drying, leading to increased bone degradation, brittleness and fracturing, with the acidic soil accelerating this process. On The Doe Network, the skull found in a drainage ditch by two PG&E workers on July 31st 1986 by the Drum Canal Crossing was given an estimated time of death for the person as 2 to 3 years and described as "partial skeletal". In other words, they estimated that Donna Lass died in 1983 or 1984, rather than 1970. If Donna Lass was murdered and dumped near Lake Spaulding and the Drum Canal Crossing in September 1970, her skull would have been far more degraded than the estimate given. The skull condition was only an estimate, but there is a big difference between 2 to 3 years and 16 years under the conditions experienced in this region.
A skull buried or sitting on the surface in this region of Placer County will be exposed to these conditions throughout the year. Assuming that Donna Lass was not kept alive by her abductor for 13 or 14 years and then murdered, it is extremely likely she was murdered on, or slightly after September 6th 1970. If her body was dumped (or buried) in the area around Lake Spaulding in 1970, her skull would have been exposed to almost 16 years of weathering before it was found on July 31st 1986. The skull would have been exposed to constant wetting and drying, leading to increased bone degradation, brittleness and fracturing, with the acidic soil accelerating this process. On The Doe Network, the skull found in a drainage ditch by two PG&E workers on July 31st 1986 by the Drum Canal Crossing was given an estimated time of death for the person as 2 to 3 years and described as "partial skeletal". In other words, they estimated that Donna Lass died in 1983 or 1984, rather than 1970. If Donna Lass was murdered and dumped near Lake Spaulding and the Drum Canal Crossing in September 1970, her skull would have been far more degraded than the estimate given. The skull condition was only an estimate, but there is a big difference between 2 to 3 years and 16 years under the conditions experienced in this region.
Osteology determines time since death (post-mortem interval, PMI) by analyzing skeletal decomposition, bone weathering, and chemical changes, particularly when soft tissue is gone (typically weeks to years post-mortem). The accuracy of osteology for estimating the time of death is generally low and highly variable, often relying on "best guess" estimates rather than precise dates, particularly when the body is skeletonized. The completion of skeletonization usually takes 3–5 years in average conditions, meaning a skull with no remaining soft tissue likely indicates a death at least 3 years prior. The "state of the remains" found by the Drum Canal Crossing were categorized as "partial skeletal" and given 2 to 3 years as the post-mortem interval. Therefore, something about the skull's condition must have indicated a death closer to the time of its discovery, with possibly some soft tissue remaining or a minimally weathered appearance. A scenario much more unlikely after 16 years.
"With more recent sets of remains, there may still be some tissues present on the body to help pinpoint the age of the body. Certain soft tissues and ligaments can last for up to 5 years, so the presence of these may at least be able to narrow down time since death to the last few years. Typically, isotope analysis can prove to be particularly beneficial in establishing the likely age of remains. Among the most common elements to be studied in isotope analysis are carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, strontium and hydrogen. This branch of study, which can be focussed upon unstable or stable isotopes, is based on the principle that many elements within the body exist as various isotopes, many of which are taken into the body by eating, for instance". Forensic Anthropology.
I am not saying the skull found at the Drum Canal Crossing was not that of Donna Lass, but the absence of any clarity or further mention of the skull found on January 19th 1986 in the Yuba Gap area near Chubb Lake and its approximate post-mortem interval, makes me question which skull the DNA came from in December 2023 that finally identified the remains of Donna Lass---and how each skull was labeled back in 1986 (in terms of location). The conclusions arrived at by Travis Miller are undoubtedly the right ones, but the lack of information about the "first" skull found on January 19th 1986 is deeply confounding. To achieve some sort of clarification, I contacted the Placer County Sheriff's Office on June 5th 2024 and received the following response: "Donna Lass was located in the Yuba Gap area". For now, I am sticking with the Drum Canal Crossing, slightly west of Yuba Gap, as the location of the skull attributed to Donna Lass, despite some lingering reservations.
"With more recent sets of remains, there may still be some tissues present on the body to help pinpoint the age of the body. Certain soft tissues and ligaments can last for up to 5 years, so the presence of these may at least be able to narrow down time since death to the last few years. Typically, isotope analysis can prove to be particularly beneficial in establishing the likely age of remains. Among the most common elements to be studied in isotope analysis are carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, strontium and hydrogen. This branch of study, which can be focussed upon unstable or stable isotopes, is based on the principle that many elements within the body exist as various isotopes, many of which are taken into the body by eating, for instance". Forensic Anthropology.
I am not saying the skull found at the Drum Canal Crossing was not that of Donna Lass, but the absence of any clarity or further mention of the skull found on January 19th 1986 in the Yuba Gap area near Chubb Lake and its approximate post-mortem interval, makes me question which skull the DNA came from in December 2023 that finally identified the remains of Donna Lass---and how each skull was labeled back in 1986 (in terms of location). The conclusions arrived at by Travis Miller are undoubtedly the right ones, but the lack of information about the "first" skull found on January 19th 1986 is deeply confounding. To achieve some sort of clarification, I contacted the Placer County Sheriff's Office on June 5th 2024 and received the following response: "Donna Lass was located in the Yuba Gap area". For now, I am sticking with the Drum Canal Crossing, slightly west of Yuba Gap, as the location of the skull attributed to Donna Lass, despite some lingering reservations.
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