Lyn Romano: Swissair victims 'deserve to be where they lived.'

By Lois Legge / Staff Reporter

A Bayswater burial site for unidentified remains of those who perished on Swissair Flight 111 has come as welcome news to many relatives of those who died.

But for others, the planned mass interment brings just one more level of grief and indignity to an already tragic loss.

Lyn Romano - whose husband Ray died aboard the Boeing MD-11 that crashed into St. Margarets Bay on Sept. 2, killing all 229 passengers and crew - says she is sickened by the thought of her husband being buried in a mass grave.

"In my humble opinion they deserve a little bit more dignity than being shoved in 22 caskets and put in a rock somewhere," she said during an angry, emotional interview Wednesday.

"All I want is for someone to deliver me in writing why they cannot identify those (remains). They are people, they are not body parts

They deserve to be where they lived, not where they died."

Like one other U.S. family, Mrs. Romano has written to Swissair asking the company to pay for further identification.

Barbara Fetherolf, whose daughter Tara died in the crash, told this newspaper last week she had hired a lawyer to try to force Swissair to finance continuing identification.

Without directly answering if Swissair would consider paying, airline spokeswoman Jackie Pash said Wednesday the decision to bury the remains was made by Dr. John Butt, the province's chief medical examiner, and is out of Swissair's control.

Nova Scotia's medical examiner's office and RCMP forensic teams were able to identify all 229 passengers and crew - mostly through DNA analysis and dental records - from remains recovered after the jet crashed.

But provincial officials have said other remains are too small or shattered to be identified.

Mrs. Romano, however, is convinced it can be done and others agree.

"It's money ... we all know it's money," she said from her home in Goldens Bridge, N.Y.

Dr. Butt was out of the country Wednesday and Dr. Ron Fourney, head of DNA operations for the RCMP in Ottawa, couldn't be reached for comment.

But top U.S. forensic science professor Dr. Peter De Forest said from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York that Mrs. Romano is technically right.

Dr. De Forest, who was retained by the Los Angeles Police Department to analyse evidence in the O.J. Simpson trial and is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, said that further identification is possible.

But he said the process would be difficult and time-consuming.

"Basically, pragmatically it can't be done but if one wanted to expend the resources (it) could be done."

DNA analysis of bone has been done and is "pretty reliable," he said, adding analysis can also be conducted on extremely small pieces of remains and things like hair.

"But the question is where do you draw the line on this kind of thing. It really could go on forever."

Dr. De Forest, who has kept in touch with Dr. Fourney, wondered what continuing the process would accomplish.

"Much of what remained the last time I talked to Dr. Fourney could in theory have been analysed but they did really a herculean job dealing with all those samples and I think they really wrote the textbook on mass disasters with that work they did."

The burial site was officially announced Wednesday by Lorne Clarke, chairman of an advisory committee selecting the memorial and burial locations.

But families received the news in letters earlier this week and some said Tuesday they are pleased with the choice.

They had wanted to ensure remains would be buried close to the crash site and near one of two land memorials to victims - at Bayswater, on the western side of St. Margarets Bay, and Whalesback, about 500 metres west of Peggys Cove on the eastern side of the bay.

Miles Gerety, chairman of an international families association linking relatives, said Bayswater was overwhelmingly supported by the families.

But Mrs. Romano wants to bury as much of her husband in his home state as possible.

"I got a real problem with people feeling body parts are body parts - that's my husband.

"He's in the ocean, he's in their refrigerators and part of him (has been returned to Goldens Bridge). Well, part of me is in the ocean and in their refrigerators and part of me is going to be in their mass grave.

"Is is just me or what? Why is everybody so comfortable with it?"

Burial of the remains is set for Sept.1 to 3, when many families are expected to be in Nova Scotia for a first anniversary memorial service Sept. 2.