A prosecutor and forensic examiner have concluded that the long-questioned death of a teenage girl at a party nearly two decades ago likely wasn't a homicide, directly challenging her family's claims of murder. Dr. John Pless said he conducted a six-hour examination last year on the body of 16-year-old Olivia "Janie" Ward. He said he found no signs of a beating or a spine severed by a violent blow, key points of two past autopsies. As a result, prosecutor Tim Williamson told reporters that she likely died of a natural cause - perhaps from choking on some object or a sudden heart attack - and not by anyone else's hand.

"Neither he nor I could tell you today that Janie Ward was a victim of a homicide, not from any forensic medical report can we say that," Williamson said.

Williamson presented the findings Monday morning to parents Ron and Mona Ward of Marshall. Afterward, the two said they could not believe their daughter's death came from natural causes.

"If somebody pushed her out of the back of a pickup truck and told us that, yeah, we'd believe that," an emotional Ron Ward told reporters.

On Sept. 9, 1989, sheriff's deputies found the girl's body in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by teenagers in the town square of Marshall, located 90 miles north of Little Rock. Investigators later said she fell backward off a nine-inch-tall porch of a rural cabin while attending a party.

The original 1989 autopsy by Dr. Fahmy Malak, then the state's chief medical examiner, concluded that Janie died from hitting the back of her head in a fall, an injury that should have snapped her neck forward. But by 1991, Malak had quit over allegations that he had botched other autopsies.

Janie's family questioned the autopsy and later hired Dr. Harry Bonnell, an independent medical examiner, to perform a second autopsy. After exhuming her body in 2004, Bonnell said a tremendous force snapped Janie's head backward, as if she'd been hit from the front.

After the second autopsy, a judge named Williamson as special prosecutor in the case. In August 2007, Janie's body was exhumed for a second time for a CT scan and an autopsy.

On Monday, Pless told reporters he found none of the massive bruising or bleeding associated with a tremendous hit to the face. A photograph taken before her first autopsy bolsters that. It shows Janie's body lying on a metal gurney in a black Def Leppard T-shirt, with only a few abrasions to her face.

Pless said Janie's spine likely became severed from incompetent handling by Malak during the initial autopsy. The doctor also said Bonnell should have had another forensic examiner look over his work and findings in the second autopsy, which "should have been more complete."

"We in the field have a tendency, and I've done this myself, to try to please," Pless said. "That sometimes comes back to bite you."

Bonnell, a San Diego-based forensic pathologist, did not return messages for comment Monday.

Pless said Janie might have died of choking, as he found small hemorrhages in her throat in areas where food can become stuck. A sudden heart attack might have caused the death as well, but Pless said Janie's heart was not found in the third autopsy, which suggested mortuary workers incinerated it with other organs.

Williamson said the findings also leave open the possibility that Janie drowned, though both he and Pless said they found no evidence that anyone forced her under water. Paramedics reported finding her clothes wet the night of her death.

"I'm not saying it's plausible, I'm just saying it's possible," Williamson said.

Ron and Mona Ward said they still believe a severe blow killed their daughter, pointing to a fracture along her nose. However, a report by a radiologist at the University of Arkansas suggested that injury likely came after Janie's death.

Williamson said investigators continue to interview witnesses and collect evidence. He said a 4,400-page report regarding Janie's death compiled by his office likely would be released by the end of next month. However, he acknowledged that might not signal the end of the case.

"It's been like chasing ghosts," the prosecutor said.

Written By JON GAMBRELL

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