page_title: Douglas W. Owsley
section_title: American journalists in the Guatemalan Highlands
hierarchical_section_title: Douglas W. Owsley / Professional background / Prominent excavations and investigations / American journalists in the Guatemalan Highlands
caption_attribution_description: English: View from Rt.1 between San Juan Ostuncalco and San Marcos at Buena Vista, SW Guatemala Español: Vista desde la Ruta 1 entre San Juan Ostuncalco y San Marcos en Buena Vista, en el suroeste de Guatemala
context_page_description: Douglas W. Owsley, Ph.D. is an American anthropologist who is the current Head of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He is widely regarded as one of the most prominent and influential archaeologists and forensic anthropologists in the world in some popular media. In September 2001, he provided scientific analysis at the military mortuary located at Dover Air Force Base, following the 9/11 attack in Washington D.C. The following year, the US Department of Defense honored him with the Commander's Award for Civilian Service for helping in the identification of 60 federal and civilian victims who died when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
  As a forensic anthropologist, Owsley has consulted with individuals, organizations, and government agencies to excavate and reconstruct skeletal remains, identify the deceased, and determine the cause of death. Notable cases include analysis and identification of Jeffrey Dahmer's first victim; excavation and study of the H. L.
context_section_description: In early 1992, Owsley arrived in his office to find a telegram from the US State Department. Photographer Griffith Davis and freelance writer Nicholas Blake had been reported missing on April 8, 1985. The document on his presented a summation of the disappearance of the two American journalists while traveling in the Guatemalan Highlands, stating that the US Embassy at Guatemala had declared the rescue and recovery operations a failure.
  After the seven-year FBI investigation ended in a failure, the family of Blake and Davis continued searching for leads on the whereabouts of their family members. When information about the murder of the two journalists was eventually uncovered, Randy and Sam Blake, brothers of Nicholas, along with the US Embassy, asked for Owsley's help to recover and identify the remains from the Guatemalan jungle.
  The first solid lead that came in resulted from information provided by a schoolteacher in the village of Il Llano. The schoolteacher recognized photos and remembered that the journalists had camped in the schoolhouse for a night on March 28, 1985. The following morning, five or six members of a paramilitary patrol hauled the journalists from their sleep and shot them just outside the village. While clear motive was unknown, Nicholas Blake had previously traveled to the highlands and reported on human rights violations committed by the corrupt military forces in the area. The Guatemalan army had intel that Blake had returned to the jungle with a photographer, so it was surmised that the motive was related to his previous work.
  In 1987, a local teacher, Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales, had received information that the paramilitary forces were responsible for the journalists' disappearance. Martínez-Morales claimed that he knew the names of the men that killed the journalists and later burned their remains on the road to Salquil. Martínez-Morales told the US Embassy that Felipe Alva showed him where the burned remains of the journalists could be found. Alva was known as the regional commander who oversaw the military operations of over 40,000 civil patrol members.
  The Blake brothers were eventually told that in exchange for $5,000 to $10,000, Alva would help them recover the remains of the journalists. In 1992, the family received a couple of wooden boxes that reportedly held the remains of Blake and Davis. Soon after arrival, the Blake brothers brought the boxes to Owsley, who discovered organic material, four metal tent poles, a bone socket, burned bone fragments, and one tooth. For the most part, the bones were fully cremated, removing organic elements that would assist in the identification process. Unfortunately, only those of Griffith Davis were able to be identified, which would lead the Blake brothers back to Guatemala in search of the actual site of the murder and subsequent cremation base of the journalists. The Blake family contacted Alva and let him know that due to inconclusive identification of the remains, they would need to return to Guatemala, accompanied with expert anthropologists.
  On June 11, 1992, the Blake brothers chartered a jet to Nebaj, Guatemala, along with Owsley; colleague John Verano, professor of anthropology with Tulane University; and Colonel Otto Noack-Sierra of the Guatemalan Army. They traveled two hours on foot through the Guatemalan jungle to the burn site. Owsley got down on his hands and knees and began sifting through the ash and charcoal, mixed with brown soil. He was skeptical and soon realized that they were led by Alva to a false cremation site. The ground was brown and moist, unlike the red clay soil that arrived in the crates in Washington D.C.
  Once the deception of Alva was uncovered, Noack directly confronted Alva, demanding under threat of death to direct the party to the accurate site. The following day, the team returned to El Llano in a helicopter with a patrolman who reportedly knew the exact spot where the journalists' remains could be found. Colonel handed Owsley a grenade, telling him "Here, Doug, you may need this. Put it in your pock
caption: Guatemalan Highlands above El Llano
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