The collection currently consists of 72 individuals of human remains. Some of these cases originated from outside Nevada and include locations from: Provo, Utah; Mt. Trimble School, Arizona; and Death Valley, California. Nevada counties represented included Churchill, Clark, Elko, Humboldt, Lincoln, Nye, Pershing, Reno, Washoe, and White Pine. Two remains from Lyon county were deaccessioned; one was identified and handed over to law enforcement and the other was repatriated by the Yerington Northern Paiute Tribe in 1997. Human remains are still accepted by the Department of Anthropology for identification by the departments physical anthropologists.

The remains housed at the UNLV Forensic Lab are used in the training of students in forensic methods, taphonomy, comparative and interpretative studies of Forensic Anthropology. The remains are used for student theses, dissertations and course work. They are also available for research by outside professionals upon approval by the department. It is important for the unidentified remains to be available for research as each time an analysis is performed by student or professional, additional data is gathered that may aid in the future identification of the skeletal remains of the individual.

The Kyle Brothers
A publication of an analysis of a set of human skeletal remains from the UNLV forensic collection was done by Dr.'s Sheilagh and Richard Brooks (Brooks and Brooks 1984). The remains are from the Kyle (Kiel) ranch located in North Las Vegas, NV. Through a detailed forensic analysis this publication provided information that changed the historical account involving the Kyle Brothers from a murder suicide to a double murder. The murders took place at the turn of the century when census records place the population of the Las Vegas Valley at 30 individuals (Paher 1971).

Historical Record:
The historic account states that on October 11, 1900 the bodies of Edwin and William Kiel were found by their neighbors, the Stewart's (Roske 1986). Edwin Kiel was found on the kitchen floor with a pistol near his right hand and a gun shot wound to the head. William Kiel was found lying partially submerged in an irrigation ditch about 30 feet away from the house with an unloaded and unfired shotgun at his feet and shotgun wounds to the head and left arm.

The original jury report stated that Edwin Kiel had an entry wound above the right eye. William Kiel had sustained several injuries including a shotgun wound to the left arm between the elbow and wrist, a second that passed through the trunk, and a third that lodged in the head near the left eye. Due to the wounds and powder burns on Edwin's body and the location of the guns, it was concluded that Edwin had killed William and then in remorse killed himself. There was however, some speculation at this time that Archibald Steward's son Hiram. had sought revenge on the Kiel brothers for their possible involvement in the death of Archibald Stewart on the Kiel ranch in 1884 (Roske 1986).

Exhumation:
In 1975 the historic family cemetery located on the Kiel Ranch was excavated as part of the acquisition of the land by the City of North Las Vegas. It was determined that the land on which the cemetery was located was going to be impacted and therefore the bodies should be exhumed to be eventually re-interred on city-owned land.

Elizabeth Warren, then Historian and District Interpreter for Nevada State Parks, had researched the site and informed the archaeologist involved that there were at least two burials - Conrad Kiel (father) and Mrs. Latimer, but that it was unknown if the Kiel brothers were also buried at this location. Upon excavation of the site four adult burials and one infant burial were encountered. Burial Number 1 (KHR1 - Kyle Human Remains No. 1) is identified as Mrs. Latimer, Burial Number 2 (KHR2) is Conrad Kiel, Burial Number 3 (KHR3) is Edwin Kiel, Burial Number 4 (KHR4) is William Kiel, and Burial Number 5 is an unidentified infant burial. All of the adult burials were positioned within wooden coffins with their heads to the West except Edwin Kiel who's head was placed to the East probably indicating the jury's verdict of a murderer and suicide.

Forensic Analysis:
The descriptive analysis of the skeletal remains of Edwin Kiel revealed significant clues to the cause of death. A gun shot wound entrance hole was identified on the left occipital bone (back of the head). This means that the left facial wounds described in the historic record were the result of the a .44 or .45 caliber bullet exiting the cranium. The conclusion of S.T. Brooks and Dr. Raymond Rawson D.A.B.F.O. who X-rayed the remains, is that Edwin Kiel was probably ambushed as he walked out of the ranch house and shot with either a .44 or .45 revolver from close quarters from behind (Brooks and Brooks 1984). This forensic analysis changes the historical conclusion from a murder suicide to a double murder.

The shotgun wounds of William Kiel support this theory. The forensic evidence tells us that one of the shotgun wounds was to the left lower arm shattering the ulna and radius, perhaps as he threw up his arm in defense. The second shotgun wound struck the head from a different angle than the first, indicating that this was a murder maybe by more than one individual and with at least two different weapons (Brooks and Brooks 1984).

This is an excellent example of a forensic analysis providing detailed evidence from skeletal remains. The cause of death, types of weapons used, as well as the positioning of the wounds, was reconstructed using forensic methods. This in turn suggests a sequence of events leading to the death of these two brothers (a double murder verses a murder -suicide). Since the original publication by Brooks and Brooks. students from the Anthropology Department have analyzed the remains of Edwin and William and have found further evidence of trauma including a bullet imbedded into the third thoracic vertebra (Alison Velier personal communication 2000). Thus confirming that the practice of multiple analysis contributes to additional understanding of each case study presented to the UNLV Forensic Lab for analysis.