William Ross Maples, Ph.D. (August 7, 1937 – February 27, 1997) was an American forensic anthropologist working at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History. His specialty was the study of bones. He worked on several high-profile criminal investigations, including those concerning historical figures such as Francisco Pizarro, the Romanov family, Joseph Merrick (known as the "Elephant Man"), PresidentZachary Taylor, and Medgar Evers. His insights often proved beneficial in closing cases that otherwise may have remained unsolved.
He is the author of Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Unusual and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist (co-authored by Michael Browning). The book chronicles his career in forensic anthropology and some of his high-profile cases.
Personal life
Maples married Margaret Kelly in 1958. They had two children, Lisa and Cynthia.
Goza, W M (1999), "William R. Maples, forensic historian: four men, four centuries, four countries", J. Forensic Sci., vol. 44, no. 4 (published Jul 1999), pp. 692–4, PMID10432600
Falsetti, A B (1999), "A thousand tales of dead men: the forensic anthropology cases of William R. Maples, Ph.D", J. Forensic Sci., vol. 44, no. 4 (published Jul 1999), pp. 682–6, PMID10432599
Maples, William R. and Browning, Michael (1994). Dead Men Do Tell Tales. (ISBN0-385-47968-9) Existe versión en español "Los muertos también hablan" (2006)
The William R. Maples Collection Digital Collection of William R. Maples works, documents, photos and research. Maintained by the Florida Gulf Coast University Library.
