Mercyhurst University’s forensic department assisted Pennsylvania State Police in a murder investigation of a Susquehanna County man.

The university’s forensic department reacted to arrests being made in the case after helping assist in the investigation.

Arrests have been made in the investigation of Tyler Barber, and Mercyhurst’s forensic department said many steps were taken in helping identify the victim.

According to state police, many people have been arrested in the kidnapping and murder of Tyler Barber.

Barber was reported missing in September of 2022 by family members.

According to police, Tyler Barber was forced into a car with three men who told him “they will get information out of him whether he likes it or not.” The men and Barber then arrived to a locked gate on Rose Hollow Road where they blindfolded him and restrained him against a tree with a rope.

The chair of the applied forensic sciences department of Mercyhurst University, Dennis Dirkmaat, said his team, including 15 graduate students, were involved in various phases of the investigation.

The forensic sciences department identified the skeletal remains of Barber in December of 2022 after a human skull was discovered by a hunter and more human remains were found past the end of Hollow Road down an embankment.

He said the forensics teams carefully noted where evidence was located throughout the scene to form a hypothesis and determine how long the victim had been there.

“Figure out how long ago that occurred we try to figure out was the individual deposited on the scene and we can even figure out even after years how they were positioned face up face down etcetera so that all comes about from out forensic archaeological recovery,” Dirkmaat went on to say.

One of the men involved, Blaze Corter, has been charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping, and other related charges involving the incident. The other men will be arraigned next Wednesday.