By Stephen Baxter

Lauren Zephro, the latent print examiner for the Sheriff's Office, examines a skull found near the San Lorenzo River levee in Santa Cruz in 2009. Courtesy of Jeremy Verinsky

Lauren Zephro has looked for clues in skulls, bones, fingerprints and teeth.

After dozens of burglary and homicide investigations at the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office, she found the fingerprint "hit of her career" in a cold Capitola homicide case from 1972. This month, Zephro earned a new accolade: A doctorate in anthropology from UC Santa Cruz.

Zephro has worked as the latent fingerprint examiner for the Sheriff's Office since 2008.

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Source: Mercury News