Letter to the Editor:
In light of the interest shown in the disposition of the purported remains of Edward Salter Sr., I would like to provide further information.
First, the Department of Cultural Resources through its Office of State Archaeology has been a good steward of the remains since their discovery in 1986. The discovery was widely reported in 1986 but proper notice to potential descendants of Mr. Salter’s was not given until this spring. That omission has now been corrected.
Second, Dr. Wilson Angley, then a staff member of the department’s Research Branch, conducted the initial research that provided preliminary identification of the grave as that of Edward Salter’s. Click here to see the report (PDF).
Third, the Office of State Archaeology was conducting tests on the remains with highly qualified forensic scientists at North Carolina State University and Peace College. Those tests were suspended as soon as Salter’s kin came forward to claim the remains as provided by G.S. 70. The family has asked the Smithsonian Institution to conduct similar tests. We look forward to the results of those tests.
Jeffrey J. Crow
Deputy Secretary