Police discovered human remains in a 55-gallon drum filled with hardened concrete yesterday, and believe it may be a NJ mom who has been missing for over a month. DNA testing will determine whether the remains are that of 32-year-old Randy "Amanda" Lehrer, who was reported missing on August 17 after an argument with her husband. But police call the find a “significant development”, and investigators have spoken with Lehrer’s parents and corroborated a tattoo on the body: "Laugh Now Cry Later." more ›

Workers at a Greenpoint home unearthed parts of a skeleton in the backyard, the Times reports. The owner of 119 Kent St seems particularly nonchalant about human remains being found on his property: "Growing up in New York, not much surprises me. Of course, there's a skull in my backyard." In addition to a skull, police found a few pieces of vertebrae, and teeth. No word on whether a map to One-Eyed Willie's fortune was found along with the bones. more ›

Cold-case investigators are ripping up the basement of a Queens plumbing-supply store in hopes of finding the remains of a Baruch College student who disappeared 12 years ago after her married chemistry professor got her pregnant. Cops received a tip a decade ago that Kristine Kupka might be buried beneath the Jamaica shop, but the man who managed the property—a cousin of professor and "prime suspect" Darshanad Persaud—wouldn't allow them to search. But according to the Post, after the building was leased to a new business, cops got permission and a "cadaver-sniffing dog" indicated the presence of human remains. more ›

Bowing to victims' families, the city has agreed to one last ditch effort to find human remains from the 9/11 attacks. Six to seven truckloads of debris from the World Trade Center will be shipped to Staten Island's Fresh Kills facility for hand sifting, to begin in April, reported the Real-Time News. “Anthropologists and other trained professionals will carefully evaluate and search the estimated 844 cubic yards of material gathered since December 2007 for any potential remains,” said the office of the chief medical examiner in a memo. “Any potential remains recovered will proceed to OCME laboratories for further testing.” It's estimated that the operation will cost $1.4 million and provide the equivalent amount of closure. more ›

After days of digging and only finding dog bones, a source tells Newsday that the FBI seems to have found human remains buried in East Farmingdale, Long Island yesterday afternoon. The FBI has been at the industrial complex ever since a tipster said three bodies were buried there and, by last evening, "FBI agents were chopping down tree branches so a large set of floodlights could illuminate the baseball diamond-sized dig area through the evening." The Daily News reports that agents think the remains are of former Colombo underboss William (Wild Bill) Cutolo--"the corpse was found in a tarp cocoon - the traditional way mob hit men dispose of their kills - with shoe-clad feet sticking out." more ›