Case Solves
Case Solve: Pima County, Arizona, "Dustin" Doe, Identified as James Ottoman "Jimmy" Yee
On July 18th, 1994, a White/Asian male was transported to Tucson Medical Center after being struck by a vehicle on the east side of Tucson, Arizona. The man succumbed to his injuries at the hospital and was left unidentified. In April of 2023, Moxxy Forensic Investigations teamed up with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner to identify John Doe through the use of investigative genetic genealogy. A crowdfund was established and the funds were raised, mainly from contributions by Melissa Boes Rice. A sample of John Doe's blood was sent to GeneByGene and his raw DNA was uploaded to both FamilyTreeDNA and GEDMatch in September of 2023. Within twenty-four hours, a team of genealogists at Moxxy Forensics Investigations identified him as James Ottoman "Jimmy" Yee, who would have been twenty-nine years old at the time of his death. Jimmy's maternal side hailed from Norway and his paternal side hailed from China.
Jimmy Yee was born in Alameda County, California. He was one of three children and was a twin. Jimmy was known to be living in Tucson, Arizona, and was homeless at the time of his death. His family had been searching for his whereabouts for a long time. We would like to extend our gratitude to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, the contributors for this case, Melissa Boes Rice, GeneByGene, FamilyTreeDNA, GEDMatch, and most of all--we would like to extend our gratitude and condolences to the family of Jimmy Yee.
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Tucson_John_Doe_(July_1994)
https://www.forensicmag.com/612615-Moxxy-Identifies-John-Doe-Struck-by-Car-in-1994/
Image Credit: R. Hoch
Case Solve: Dekalb County, Alabama, "Damon Hunter", Identified as Rainbow Canyon King
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, in collaboration with various law enforcement agencies and forensic experts, is pleased to announce the successful identification of a previously unidentified individual, commonly known as John Doe, whose skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area near the intersection of County Road 51 and Alabama Highway 227 in rural DeKalb County, Alabama, on December 21, 1991.
The skeletal remains, initially found by a hunter, sparked a decades-long investigation involving the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, and the Fort Payne Police Department. Despite exhaustive efforts, including forensic analysis and nationwide inquiries, the identity of the deceased remained a mystery.
However, in late 2022, a breakthrough emerged when the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office was contacted by Mobile County Sheriff's Office genealogy analyst Olivia McCarter, proposing the use of investigative genetic genealogy to potentially identify John Doe. This innovative approach led to a collaborative effort between law enforcement and forensic experts, ultimately resulting in the identification of the individual.
In 2023, DNA samples extracted from the remains were sent to Intermountain Forensics, a non-profit laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, for analysis and whole-genome sequencing. Subsequently, the DNA data was uploaded to GEDMatch by Olivia McCarter and her team at Moxxy Forensic Investigations. This action yielded a close familial match, leading to the tentative identification of John Doe as Rainbow King of Tompkinsville, Kentucky.
Further investigation and coordination with living relatives of Rainbow King confirmed the identity. Chief Investigator Priscilla Padgett and Investigations Assistant Andrea Woodall traveled to Tompkinsville, Kentucky, accompanied by Monroe County Sheriff Dale Ford, to meet with the King family. A DNA sample collected during the meeting conclusively confirmed that the skeletal remains belonged to 22-year-old Rainbow Canyon King.
Sheriff Nick Welden says "This identification is the result of tireless efforts and collaboration between multiple agencies and experts, it underscores the importance of innovative forensic techniques in resolving cold cases and providing closure to families. The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office extends its deepest gratitude to all individuals and agencies involved in this significant breakthrough. The identification of Rainbow Canyon King brings closure to a decades-old mystery and allows his family to finally lay him to rest. Our prayers and condolences go out to his family during this time.”
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/DeKalb_County_John_Doe_(1991)
https://www.wbrc.com/2024/02/23/remains-found-dekalb-county-1991-identified-kentucky-man/
Case Solve: Preble County, Ohio, "Penny" Doe, Identified as Albert Allen Frost
On May 25th, 1968; the skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were located in Eaton, Preble County, Ohio. Children found the decomposed body in a wooded area with the skull being 75 feet downstream.
The initial coroner’s assessment stated the remains likely belonged to a Caucasian female, about 30 to 50 years old, and was believed to have died sometime between 1962 and 1968. Despite subsequent investigations, Preble County authorities were unable to identify the remains at that time, and they were subsequently buried in Mound Hill Cemetery.
Several decades later and per the request of Detective Adam Turner and the Shelby Police Department, the remains were exhumed on August 28th, 2019. Initial attempts to extract a working DNA profile were unsuccessful. Moxxy Forensic Investigations then received this case on August 24th, 2022, where a sufficient DNA profile was obtained thanks to non-profit laboratory Intermountain Forensics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
During the laboratory analysis, it was determined that this individual was incorrectly categorized as a biological female during the original anthropological report. This individual was a biological male, as determined by the Y-DNA that was discovered belonging to the remains.
The DNA kit was uploaded to Gedmatch to undergo genealogical research on March 29th, 2023, and relayed information to Detective Turner that same day that the likely candidate was Albert Allen Frost.
Albert was a military veteran of the United States Army that proudly served his country. He was known to wear his military-issued Army jacket everywhere. His last known contact was between 1963 and 1964 in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio.
Moxxy Forensic Investigations wants to thank Intermountain Forensics, Criminal Coffee Co., the families of Albert Allen Frost and Mary Jane VanGilder, the Eaton Police Department, Preble County Coroner’s Office, and the Shelby Police Department for their collaborative efforts on this case.
https://www.registerherald.com/2019/09/04/jane-doe-exhumed-at-mound-hill-cemetery-2/
https://dayton247now.com/news/local/body-found-nearly-60-years-ago-identifiedhttps://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/11/17/shelby-police-detective-continues-search-for-missing-woman/71532217007/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/hamilton-man-identified-person-found-021100072.html
Image Credit: The Frost Family
Image Credit: The Register Herald (2019)
Case Solve: Mobile County, Alabama, Jane Doe Identified as Ada Elizabeth Fritz
On May 18th, 1976, the remains of an elderly female were found in Session’s Creek in Grand Bay, Alabama. She had a gunshot wound to the back of her head and her hands had been mutilated. The Jane Doe’s case quickly went cold and she was left unidentified.
In 1979, the remains were cremated and buried by the Anatomical Donations Program at the University of South Alabama. In December of 2022, Olivia McCarter of the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and Moxxy Forensic Investigations sent an old ceramic dental mold to Intermountain Forensics. Using the MVAC machine, Intermountain Forensics was able to retrieve the only DNA sample for Jane Doe in existence. The sample, somehow un-contaminated, underwent whole-genome sequencing at Intermountain Forensics in early 2023.
In April of 2023, the Moxxy Forensics Investigation team was able to identify Jane Doe as 61-year old Ada Elizabeth Fritz within nineteen days of research.
Ada was born in 1914 in Sheridan, Wyoming. Ada was not known to have been reported as missing and was last known to reside in Batesville, Arkansas. The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office was able to confirm the identity of Ada Fritz, after contacting her nephew, as she had no children.
Moxxy Forensics Investigations would like to thank Intermountain Forensics for retrieving a DNA sample on this incredibly difficult case, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, MVAC Systems, GEDMatch, and the Orange County, CA Sheriff’s Department. This identification would not have been possible without the teamwork between Mobile County and Intermountain Forensics thinking outside of the box on how to identify remains of a cremated body. We believe this case is one of the first, if not the first, identification of its kind.
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Mobile_County_Jane_Doe_(1976)
https://www.wlbt.com/2022/01/25/jane-doe-found-alabama-believed-be-south-mississippi/
Image Credit: Carl Koppelman (2021)
Case Solve: Pima County, Arizona, Jane Doe Identified as Maria del Soccoro Valdez Morones
On May 19th, 1999, the body of a young adult Hispanic female was located behind a dumpster in Tucson, Arizona. This woman was believed to be an undocumented migrant whose body had been dumped, but no further foul play was suspected and she remained unidentified as her fingerprints produced no matches in any governmental databases. In 2010, her DNA profile was entered into CODIS but no associations were ever made. The fingerprint and DNA information, as well as a photograph of her taken at an autopsy were entered into NamUs in 2015 with no potential matches to a missing person ever suggested.
In 2023, Moxxy Forensic Investigations and the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner began discussing using investigative genetic genealogy to identify the woman. Before the DNA work would begin, Moxxy Forensic Investigations located a Facebook post from a relative of Maria del Socorro Valdez Morones, who stated she had gone missing south of Tucson in March of 1999 after attempting to cross the United States border in Arizona. The posted photographs of the missing woman were very similar to that of the Jane Doe.
The information was passed to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, who, with the assistance from the Colibri Center for Human Rights, was able to get in contact with the family and confirm the identify of the Jane Doe as 26-year old Maria del Socorro Valdez Morones of Sonora, Mexico.
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Maria_Valdez-Morones
Case Solve: Cochise County, Arizona, John Doe Identified as Joseph William Myers
On March 11th, 1992, the remains of an adult male were found after being struck by a train in Willcox, Cochise County, Arizona. In 2017, the unidentified male had a fingerprint match to an arrest record under the name Joseph William Myers. This match and a facial photograph were publicized in NamUs but could not be verified and family could not be located.
In July of 2023, Moxxy Forensic Investigations provided the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner with an investigative lead and next-of-kin information which allowed investigators to positively identify the man as 35-year old Joseph William Myers Sr., last known to live in the state of Texas.
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Joseph_Myers_Sr.?so=search
Case Solve: "Bill Hull" John Doe Identified as Albert "Pinky" Edwin Roadhs
Moxxy Forensic Investigations announces the Identification of a 2012 John Doe found in Salem, Indiana.
On May 24th, 2012; the body of “Bill Lee Hull” was found in his Salem, Indiana residence some hours after he died of natural causes. He had been living with his associate Bessie Fields and her family, whom he had met in 1987 in Tuscon, Arizona. Fields died in 2009. Subsequent investigations of “Bill’s” background revealed that he was using an alias and someone else’s social security number. “Bill’s” obituary published in the Salem Leader stated that he was born on March 15th, 1932; in Fort Collins, Colorado to “Robert and Edna Hull”. Despite this information, “Bill’s” identity could not be corroborated by authorities in Indiana, and thus remained a John Doe. At the time of his death, “Bill” stood approximately 5’3”, was estimated to be 75 to 85 years of age, had a tattoo on his left forearm in blue ink that read “PINKY,” and his fingerprints had been removed by unknown means, likely done by himself. “Bill” was subsequently buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Salem, Indiana.
In early 2023, the remains were exhumed in hopes that genealogical testing conducted by Moxxy Forensic Investigations would uncover the man’s identity. Using the man’s femur, DNA was extracted and then computed into a DNA kit that was uploaded onto GEDMatch, a public DNA database. Once the DNA kit finished uploading, it took less than 30 minutes for the team of genealogists to identify a potential candidate.
Albert Edwin Roadhs, who went by the nickname “Pinky,” was born on March 15th, 1932 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Archived arrest and newspaper records showed that Roadhs had a criminal record beginning in childhood consisting of petty crime and felonies, before becoming involved with a gang known as the “Shotgun Bandits.” The Shotgun Bandits committed a series of stick-ups from October to November of 1955 in Denver, Colorado before being apprehended. At his trial, court investigators stated that Roadhs “will never adjust into a normal individual.” Roadhs was sentenced to 10 to 15 years for his crimes, and shortly after his release, was caught breaking into a warehouse with two other individuals in Longview, Washington on June 4th, 1966. He was sentenced again to 10 to 15 years in September 1967. However, Roadhs' whereabouts between September 1967 and 1987 remains unknown.
Moxxy Forensic Investigations would like to thank the team at Lakehead University for the DNA extraction, Dr. Weining Tang of Genologue for the sequencing, and Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations for bioinformatics. Furthermore, we would like to thank Coroner Peggy Schell of Washington County, the team of individuals present for the exhumation, Weathers Funeral Home, and both Roadhs’ biological and foster families for their cooperation and efforts to help identify him. Our thoughts are with both families at this time.
Anyone with information related to Roadhs’ case is advised to contact Kaycee Connelly at kaycee@moxxyforensics.com.
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Pinky_Roadhs
Image Credit: Michaelson, M. & Kasher, S. (Eds). (2006) Least Wanted: A Century of American Mugshots
Case Solve: Wayne T. McBrayer
On November 7th, 2018; human remains of an adult male were found near a known homeless camp in Tucson, Arizona.
In April of 2023, Moxxy Forensic Investigations submitted a lead to the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office for a possible next of kin.
The identity of Wayne T. McBrayer has been confirmed by family members.
We were happy to assist the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office.
You can access the Pima County press release at the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/100064703767352/posts/656200716546715/?mibextid=cr9u03
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Wayne_McBrayer
Case Solve: Morgan County, Alabama, Jane Doe Identified as Wanda Ashford Floyd
Moxxy Forensic Investigations would like to announce their involvement in the identification of the Morgan County Jane Doe (2020) as 60-year-old Wanda Floyd (née Ashford).
Wanda went missing on July 15th, 2020; and her remains were located on July 31st, 2020; in Decatur, Alabama. They remained unidentified until Olivia McCarter of the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office collaborated with the Decatur Police Department to utilize investigative genetic genealogy to identify the remains.
Thanks to philanthropist Carla Davis’ funding of the costs for the lab work, and the collaborative efforts of the Alabama Department of Forensic Services, Hudson Alpha Discovery, and Saber Investigations, a usable DNA kit for the Jane Doe was generated and uploaded to GEDMatch. Five genealogists from Moxxy Forensic Investigations worked the Jane Doe’s case and were able to tentatively identify the woman as Wanda Floyd (née Ashford).
We would like to thank the aforementioned parties for their assistance, time, and resources; in addition to Sgt. Sean Mukaddam of the Decatur Police Department and Detectives Lee Smith and Brandon Hood of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office for their time spent investigating Wanda’s case.
Our thoughts are with the Ashford family and Wanda’s loved ones during this time, and we would like to extend our gratitude towards the community of Courtland, who actively pursued tips and information relating to Wanda’s whereabouts after her disappearance.
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Wanda_Floyd
https://news.yahoo.com/investigation-stretching-mobile-identifies-body-001300858.html
https://www.forensicmag.com/593104-Similarities-DNA-Identify-Jane-Doe-as-Missing-Woman/
https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article270233752.html
https://www.al.com/news/2022/12/body-found-in-2020-is-missing-alabama-woman-sheriff-says.html
