DNA Doe Project identifies John Doe found in Minnesota in 1985
Body found in abandoned building identified as Frank Augenti
St. Paul, MN – Nearly 40 years after the body of a man was discovered in an abandoned building in St. Paul, the DNA Doe Project has identified him as Frank Nicholas Augenti. Born in 1951 in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, Augenti was 33 years old at the time of his death, and his last known address was in New York City.
Frank Augenti
On February 7, 1985, the frozen remains of Caucasian man between 20-40 years old were found on the second floor of the abandoned JJ Hill Building in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was 5’ 11” and 180 pounds. The man was believed to have been homeless, and he died of exposure weeks to months prior to being discovered.
With no clues as to his identity, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office brought this case to the DNA Doe Project, whose expert volunteer investigative genetic genealogists work pro bono to identify John and Jane Does. A team began working on this case in May 2024 and, after just two days of research, they honed in on the identity of the John Doe.
“It was immediately clear from the DNA results that the unidentified man had Italian heritage,” said Sara Hoffman, team co-leader. “When we came across Frank Augenti, we saw that all four of his grandparents had immigrated to America from Italy.”
Further research into Frank Augenti revealed that he had dropped off the radar in the 1980s, and the team on this case found further evidence to suggest that he could be Hill Building John Doe. His name was presented to the medical examiner’s office and, in August 2024, this identification was confirmed.
“We were very fortunate that a cousin had chosen to upload their DNA results to GEDmatch,” said Lisa Ivany, team co-leader. “Without their DNA, this case would still be unsolved. Italian Americans are underrepresented on the DNA databases we have access to, but the more that people upload their DNA results to GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA or DNAJustice, the more cases we’ll be able to solve.”
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Astrea Forensics for library preparation; Azenta Life Sciences for sequencing; Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro for providing their database; audiochuck, the parent company of the Crime Junkie Podcast, and 8 individual donors for providing funding for this case; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring all our Jane and John Does home.
Description:
On February 7th, 1985, the partially decomposed frozen remains of an individual were found on the second floor of the abandoned JJ Hill Building in St. Paul, Minnesota. The deceased was determined to be a Caucasian male between 20-40 years old, approximately 5’ 11” and 180 pounds.
The man had medium length brown hair and a brown beard and mustache. He was wearing multiple layers of clothing, including a green camouflage jacket and a white parka. He also had on a red scarf, brown gloves, an orange hat and brown hiking boots. A brown blanket and a duffel bag containing additional clothing and a pair of sneakers were found nearby.
The man may have been homeless. His cause of death was due to exposure weeks to months prior to being discovered.
NamUs ID: UP12123
Date Body Found: 2/7/1985
Race: Caucasian
Sex: Male
Estimated Age: 20-40 years
Estimated PMI: weeks
Agency of Jurisdiction:
Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office
Butch Huston
(651) 266-1700
Butch.Huston@CO.RAMSEY.MN.US
More Information:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/12123/details
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Ramsey_County_John_Doe_(February_1985)
Status: Identified
Doe-Nate Fund Goal: $3,385
Funding for this case was provided, in part, by the AUDIOCHUCK Fund for the Unidentified.
Last Updated: December 18, 2024
