Description
On April 9, 1989 human remains of a large male were found in a tobacco barn off KY State Highway 22 about 7.5 miles west of Dry Ridge near Williamstown, Kentucky. The victim was shot twice in the back of his head with a .22 caliber weapon, and he was stripped of all of his clothing. Also, his hands were severed from his arms. Forensic scientists determined the deceased to be a White/Caucasian male, 25-35 years-old, 6′ 5″ tall, and weighing approximately 220 pounds. He wore his medium brown hair in a crew cut with short sideburns. The victim died approximately two weeks prior to being found. The case is being treated as a homicide.
NamUs ID: UP86
Date Body Found: April 9, 1989
Race: White/Caucasian
Gender: Male
Estimated Age: 25-35
Estimated PMI: Days
Location: Kentucky State Police
Agency of Jurisdiction
Kentucky State Police
Regina Wells, DNA Database Supervisor
502-564-5230
Links to More Information
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/86/
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/unidentified-persons/john-doe—grant-county-kentucky
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/296umky.html
https://unidentified.wikia.org/wiki/Grant_County_John_Doe
Status: Research in Progress
DNA Doe Project Needs Public’s Help
John Doe with Croatian/Serbian heritage found with no hands remains unidentified
Williamstown, KY – Investigative genetic genealogists with the DNA Doe Project are seeking the public’s help to identify a man found in a tobacco barn off Kentucky State Highway 22 about 7.5 miles west of Dry Ridge near Williamstown, Kentucky in 1989. The victim was shot twice in the back of his head and he was stripped of all of his clothing. His hands were severed from his arms.
Forensic scientists determined he was Caucasian, 25-35 years old, 6′ 5″ tall, and weighed approximately 220 pounds. He wore his medium brown hair in a crew cut with short sideburns, and had died approximately two weeks prior to being found. The case is being treated as a homicide, and the Kentucky State Police requests anyone with information on the name of this individual to contact the agency immediately, which will aid in obtaining justice for the victim and their family.
After exhausting all leads, investigators brought the case to the DNA Doe Project in 2020 to try a new type of DNA analysis. After uploading the John Doe’s profile to the databases at GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA.com and analyzing the DNA relative matches, the volunteer expert investigators determined that he was most likely from Croatia, Serbia, or Romania. He or his ancestors may have lived near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Michigan, and the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. John Doe may have been born abroad, or could be the child of immigrants.
“John Doe’s closest DNA match is an approximate third cousin with recent Croatian and Serbian ancestry,” said Missy Koski, team leader on the case. “We need more people who have ancestry from these countries and Eastern Europe to take DNA tests and upload those tests to GEDmatch.com and FamilyTreeDNA.com to help us build his family tree.”
The DNA Doe Project is hoping to connect with members of the public whose family tree includes the surnames Vignovich, Bogojevic, Nydich, Stanovich, Stoyadinovich, Ljubesavljevic, and/or Damovich. To contact the team, please email case-tips@dnadoeproject.org.
“Somewhere someone has been missing their son, brother or maybe even their father for over 35 years,” said Missy Koski, team leader on the case. “We want to give him his name back and return him to his family.”
Image Credit: Catyana Falsetti
Doe-Nate Fund Case:
This is a Doe-Nate Funded case. The goal was $3,000. Major funding for this case was provided by Patty Sullivan and we were able to reach our goal. Grant Co John Doe 1989 has been fully funded! A big thank you to all our donors.
Last Updated: May 16, 2025
