One of the crew sent his wife an email detailing the damage to the left wing. Saying it could bee seen from the shuttle. She apparently said something to NASA who sent a "group" to visually checked this by looking for themselves using a mockup/trainer. They concluded that it could not have been seen but others there to assist the "group" disagreed. Strongly.
Two flights back "foam/ice" came off the external fuel tank and hit one of the SRB's. After the SRB was recovered it had a large dent at the point of impact. Rumor is that some people were calling for grounding the shuttles until the "foam/ice" sloughing problem could be reviewed.
One of the crew was seated on the flight deck with the pilot. That person was supposed to be below. Sometimes they switch seats and that's likely why the crew members remains were found. I suppose this really means nothing but it's an interesting tidbit.
Again, just rumors.