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Mr. Gallagher Mr O'Conneil Mr. Cooke Mr. Hawkins Mr. Moore June 11, 1976 PeREL proves REC-92/02 -292- a hr. tosis p7Sennolies Auerican friends Service Committee, Inc. - 15301 Cherry Street (7 CUT To ae “Pailadelpuia, Pennsylvania | 19102 eee Dear Mr. Schneider: { This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter y dated June 2, 1976, concerning the death of Anna Mae Aquash. . ' The body of Ms. Aquash, then unidentified, ' was found on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, ya, i South Dakota, on February 24, 1976, by a rancher who . notified tha Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Within 20 fiznutes of receipt of the report, officers of the BIA, .-ie—. accompanied by a Special Agent of the FBI who had never - i had any personal contact with Aquash and had never seen a photograph of her, arrived at the scene. The body was removed to the Pine Ridge Public Health Hospital. ~pn February 25, 1976, an autopsy was performed at the “request of BIA by Dr. W..0. Brown, pathologist, Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Wo FBI Agents were present during the autopsy; however, FBI Agents had photographed the body prior to the peutopsy. One FSI Agent who assisted in the photographing : a did know Hs. Aquash from previous personal contact; however, Se - —) did not recognize her on this occasion due to the : aavanced decomposition of her facial features. MAILED 10, — 1107 br. Brown estimated the woman had been dead 7 to 10 days and he concluded in his examination that hase. pu. 85@ had died of exposure. Due to the difficulty of svim ODtainiag fingerprints at the scene because of the avm.deterioration of the body, an Fal Agent suggested that | “br. brown could remove the hands for transmisaion to *~ Adm. Serv. ew.Alein toe Ful Identification vivision, Washington, D. C., Fin. & Pen. for examination. ‘this was done. xeimoval of hands or ton "—£ingers of unknown deceased for identification purposes tspection 13 a proceuure followed by many jurisdictions. Although faves 1 - Assistant Attorney Genera ot Neheratety —ae Office of Legislative Affairs (enc. - copy of incomin G fetter)” tiene e 4 - ASAC,) Rapid City (enc. - copy of incoming letter) oN ANS a) | Plan. & Evel. ; wa, RY ca - copy of incoming letter) : . Ep Mi caw SEE NOTE PAGE 3 wv * Daweter See MAIL ie ETYPE unr (1) pa uNenwee _ . oe