Ellis Kerley; Helped Verify Remains as Mengele’s

Noted forensic scientist Ellis Kerley, who was called upon for such important cases as the identification of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele and the investigation of the Challenger space explosion, has died. He was 74.

Kerley, a resident of Lake San Marcos for the last four years, died last week of complications from leukemia, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.

“He had a great deal of love for the cadavers he dealt with,” said his wife, Mary Adams Kerley. “He treated them with dignity, compassion and respect.”

Kerley was born in Covington, Ky., and earned degrees from the University of Kentucky and the University of Michigan.

He was a staff anthropologist at Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., and taught anatomy at the Medical Center of the University of Puerto Rico.

He served in the Army during World War II and continued working on behalf of the government after the war.

In 1985, he worked for the U.S. Marshals Service to identify Mengele. In 1986, he was a consultant to NASA on the Challenger explosion.

Kerley also was a consultant to a House committee on the John F. Kennedy assassination and worked on the investigation of the fatal Marine helicopter crash in the failed attempt to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran.

Most recently, Kerley worked on prosecution cases involving Bosnian war crimes.

In addition to his wife, Kerley is survived by three daughters, Amy Kerley Moorhouse of Atlanta; Mary Elise Kerley of Honolulu; and Laurelann Bundens of San Diego.

A funeral Mass is planned for 10 a.m. today.