Dr. Bruce Evans, Huntington County’s newest special deputy coroner, displays some bones stored in a laboratory at the Huntington University Science Hall. Photo by Cindy Klepper.

By day, Bruce Evans is a mild-mannered biology professor.

But when you least expect it, and even without the help of a telephone booth, Evans becomes a solver of mysteries, digging deep into genetic codes to emerge with answers that can satisfy curiosity - or prevent heartbreak.

Evans is the newest special deputy coroner in Huntington County, chosen specifically for his depth of knowledge about the human body. Although he became official in that office only in January, Evans first became involved with the coroner's office last fall when he determined that some newly-discovered bones belonged to an animal, not a human.

"We started talking, and we decided that I would be good to have on hand if he needed expertise in that area again," Evans says of his subsequent conversation with Coroner Leon Hurlburt. "And we can also do DNA testing."
Evans and his students at HU are providing the service at no cost, Hurlburt notes.

"DNA testing is expensive, and he can get to it a lot sooner," Hurlburt says. Previously, Hurlburt used Indiana State Police labs when DNA testing was required.
"The last time, it took 13 months."

Determinations made by Evans and his students are not admissible in court, Hurlburt notes, and he'll continue to use ISP labs for that evidence.

But Evans' findings can be used to make a positive identification. Such identification is needed quickly to prevent a misidentification like the one that occurred in April 2006, when the identities of two Taylor University students were mixed up after a fatal crash.

"At Taylor, they couldn't tell who was who," Evans says. "DNA testing would do that. You'd also use it if you if you had a badly disfigured body with no dental records, no tattoos, anything like that."

Evans joined the Huntington University staff in 1991, after earning a doctorate in neurobiology from Emory University. He had previously received a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Charleston in West Virginia. He currently serves as chairman of the biology department and premedical advisor at HUY.