Intricate work to restore a dead man's burned fingertips led police to his identity and a new avenue for leads in the case.

        Because the man's body, including his hands, was so badly burned in the Nov. 4 fire, Cincinnati detectives weren't sure they could use his fingerprints to help identify him. They knew only that the man had eaten pickles, peppers and onions shortly before he was found on fire in a trash bin in Walnut Hills.

Valadez

        But with help from two local forensic specialists and the FBI, they determined the burning man was Roberto Villa Valadez of San Antonio. The man's girlfriend reported him missing there, but not until five weeks after he had been found dead here.

        “Now the police can get on with solving the crime, and the family can get on with coping with this man's death,” said Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Carl Parrott.

        Mr. Valadez was wanted in Indiana for failing to show up in court. He was stopped outside Indianapolis in September for a traffic violation and officers found $12,000 and a gun in his car. He got out of jail on bail there, Cincinnati Sgt. John Newsom said, but never went back for court.

        The identification process started with a deputy coroner, Dr. Gary Utz, rehydrating three fingers from Mr. Valadez's right hand. The rehydration is a process used on decomposed and mummified remains to restore liquid and some elasticity so technicians can roll the fingers and lift the prints.

        But the usual rolling didn't work. Officials then tried taking pictures of the fingers to see the prints. That didn't work either. Criminalist Mike Trimpe, an expert in hair and fiber evidence, ultimately treated the fingers as he would a shoe print, he said, dusting them repeatedly until enough of the fine lines showed up.

        The FBI then ran the prints through its nationwide computer system and came up with Mr. Valadez's name.

        “We have a lot of leads here, at this time, to follow up on,” Sgt. Newsom said. “How he got here is a big question.”

        Investigators still invite calls from anyone who might recognize the new picture of Mr. Valadez. Call 352-3542 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

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