Description
On October 18, 1983 unidentified remains were found by mushroom hunters in an abandoned barn lot in a wooded area off US-41 in Newton County, IN. With the body authorities found Levis brand blue jeans, a red and white belt with the word “Devil” around it, gold color belt buckle with the word “Jeans” on it, and Hush Puppy style boot with a side buckle. Forensic medical investigators determined the deceased was a Black male estimated to be between 15 and 20 years old. He was 5’10” to 6’ tall, weighed 140 to 160 pounds with had an average build, and had closely cropped black hair. Dental fillings indicate he had seen a dentist at some time in his life. The deceased died several months prior to being found.
NamUs ID: UP6011
NCMEC ID: 1184271
Date Body Found: October 19, 1983
Race: Black / African American
Gender: Male
Estimated Age: 15-20
Estimated PMI: Months
Location: Lake Village, IN
Agency of Jurisdiction
Newton County Coroner’s and Prosecuting Attorney’s Offices
Scott McCord, Coroner
206-263-2090
smccord@newtoncounty.in.gov
Link to More Information
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/6011
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_County_John_Does
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/499ufin.html
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2013/10/22/indiana-unsolved-identities-sought-for-2-victims-of-the-highway-killer-larry-eyler/3149123/
Status: Identified
The DNA Doe Project, in collaboration with the Newton County Coroner’s Office, have announced the successful identification of a long-unidentified victim of notorious serial killer Larry Eyler as Keith Lavell Bibbs. Bibbs had been known only as Adam Doe for nearly 40 years. This significant breakthrough comes after years of exhaustive efforts, and it brings closure to a case that has puzzled investigators and haunted families for decades. Bibbs is the last of four Eyler victims found on an abandoned farm in rural Lake Village, Indiana, to be identified. The DNA Doe Project also identified John Brandenburg, Jr, formerly known as Brad Doe.
Keith Lavell Bibbs
Scott McCord, Newton County Coroner, brought the Adam Doe case to the DNA Doe Project in 2020, hoping to find resolution after 37 years had passed without a viable lead to the young man’s identity. Working with highly degraded DNA, the case spent more than 2 years in the labs where multiple attempts were made to create a workable DNA profile that could be uploaded to the databases used for forensic cases – GEDmatch Pro and FTDNA. In January of this year, the team of investigative genetic genealogists finally started to get some traction on the complex family tree.
“We needed to stay focused, committed, and consistent in our work,” said team leader Elias Chan. “It was a complicated family structure involving many name changes. We were able to find a DNA cousin’s public family tree that helped point us in the right direction.”
Like many cases of African-American Jane and John Does, Adam Doe’s identification was hampered, as Black people are underrepresented in the DNA databases available for searching. Researchers worked back many, many generations to find a common thread among DNA relatives. And, some in the community are very reluctant to share their family history, let alone their genetic history.
“In African-American research, you’ve got to get into the weeds,” said Janel Daniels, the DNA Doe Project researcher who found the critical lead. “It’s very, very delicate – it takes a careful touch to connect.”
Authorities have tied Keith Bibb’s murder to serial killer Larry Eyler, who confessed to killing more than 20 young men in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s and was sentenced to death. Eyler died in 1994 while on death row.
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Newton County Coroner, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Astrea Forensics and Othram for extraction of DNA and whole genome sequencing; Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro and FTDNA for providing their databases; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring all our Jane and John Does home, including Newton County Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Goddard.
Image Credit: NCMEC
Last Updated: July 25, 2023
