'Much more violent': Expert weighs in on Emily Pike's cause of death
Emily Pike: Expert weighs in on new case details
A day after authorities released a cause of death for a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered remains were found near Globe, FOX 10 Investigator Justin Lum sat down with a woman who once worked as Pinal County's Chief Medical Examiner to talk more about the latest updates.
PHOENIX - The cause of death for 14-year-old Emily Pike, a San Carlos Apache teen found dead and dismembered near U.S. 60 outside Globe in February, has been revealed.
What we know:
The Pinal County Medical Examiner listed her cause of death as "homicidal violence with blunt head trauma."
Emily Pike: Medical Examiner reveals cause of death
The Pinal County Medical Examiner has released the cause of death for 14-year-old Emily Pike, who was found dead and dismembered near Globe in February.
The backstory:
Pike ran away from her Mesa group home in January. The full autopsy has not been released, and no arrests have been made.
According to the report, she said Emily snuck out of her bedroom window and that this wasn’t the first time she ran away.
The last time Emily left the house, the manager said she was found near Fitch Park. Days later, staff checked the Rock Teen Center, a place Emily had frequented, but there was no sign of her.
Emily Pike
By Feb. 19, a Mesa Police officer reported speaking with a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent who believed Emily Pike's remains had been found on the Gila County Indian Reservation. Human remains were discovered on Valentine's Day just off Highway 60 north of milepost 277, approximately 100 miles from where the San Carlos Apache teen was last seen alive.
Two weeks later, the remains were positively identified as Pike, and a murder investigation began.
Gila County is leading the investigation, and the reward to find her killer has been increased to $200,000.
Despite several interview requests, the office has not agreed to speak with us on camera. Meanwhile, Pike's uncle has, off-camera, expressed frustration over the lack of transparency.
Forensic pathologist weighs in
Expert Perspective:
We spoke with Pinal County's former Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Rebecca Hsu, about the newly-released details and its significance.
"Beating someone, bludgeoning someone potentially to death is a much more violent type of way, I should say, of killing someone," said Dr. Hsu, who is now the Forensic Pathologist for Hsu Enterprises. She served as Pinal County's Chief Medical Examiner from 2009 to 2011.
Although the autopsy references blunt force, Pike's remains were dismembered.
"So, we're really talking about some kind of blunt force injuries," said Dr. Hsu. "And when they say homicidal violence very often, especially in cases when the body may not be intact, and you may not have all the parts, it can be very difficult to really determine."
We have been told that the full autopsy has not been released by Pinal County, at the request of GCSO, as the investigation continues.
"It does take months to do an appropriate workup so that you are not jumping to conclusions, especially if a body has been dismembered," said Dr. Hsu. "That, technically, is some sharp force trauma, but was this something that happened? Post-mortem or ante-mortem? Those things take a little while to work out to try to figure out."
What you can do:
If you know anything about what happened to Emily, contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.
Reward increased to find Emily Pike's murderer
The reward for information leading to the arrest of Emily Pike's killer has increased to $200,000. Silent Witness added $25,000 to the $75,000 offered by the FBI and the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Anyone with information can call 480-WITNESS.