Status:
Identified
John Doe Unnamed since 1996 Identified
DNA Doe Project identifies David Brown
Atlanta, GA – David Brown died after being doused in kerosene and set on fire just a few blocks from his home in Atlanta in 1996, but without identification or clues to his identity, his disappearance wasn’t connected to his remains until now. In October, 2023, the case was referred to DNA Doe Project by Danielle DiPasquale, Founder of the Find Our Missing Facebook group. Earlier this year, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office provided a sample for DNA testing. Once a genetic profile was developed, volunteer investigative genetic genealogists with the DNA Doe Project spent a little more than four months researching complex genealogy to come up with his name.
David Brown
Brown was known as Fulton County John Doe, and buried without his name, while his family had reported him missing at the time he disappeared. Even though there was DNA testing available in the mid-90s, techniques used in investigative genetic genealogy didn’t emerge until after the explosion of direct-to-consumer sites like Ancestry.com and FamilyTreeDNA.com and the identification of Marcia King, formerly known as Buckskin Girl, in 2018.
“The lack of records prior to 1870 makes African American genealogical research very challenging,” said genetic genealogist Lance Daly. “We discovered an ancestor from the 19th century who was born in Lincoln County, GA, but later died in Atlanta. This led us to hypothesize that our John Doe had deep family ties to Atlanta and may have been born there.”
Investigative genetic genealogy is a set of techniques using advanced DNA testing and online DNA databases to discover “matching” genetic relatives of an unknown person. By building the family trees for these sometimes distant relatives, investigators with the DNA Doe Project were able to locate the correct branch of the family tree to find David Brown. These techniques have been used to identify hundreds of former Jane and John Does since 2017.
“We are proud to have been able to finally identify him after so many years.” said team co-leader Rebecca Somerhalder. “Most of our cases are very complex and we are extremely grateful to those who upload their DNA to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA to assist us in our work.”
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Genologue for extraction of DNA and whole-genome sequencing; Kevin Lord 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.
Description:
On April 24, 1996, a young man was found in a vacant lot in Atlanta, Georgia. Bystanders report he told them he had been doused in kerosene and set on fire by an unknown assailant. Investigators were unable to interview him before he died at a local hospital. He was 6’2” and 235 pounds. Estimated to be between 18-25 years old, he had black hair, brown eyes, a muscular build and a gap between his two front teeth.
NamUs ID: UP692
Date Body Found: 4/24/1996
Race: Black/African-American
Sex: Male
Estimated Age: 18-25
Estimated PMI: Minutes
Agency of Jurisdiction:
Fulton County Medical Examiners Office
Jimmy Sadler, Senior Investigator
404-613-4400
[email protected]
More Information:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/692
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-1996-atlanta-bl/26463824/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-atl-blkmale-199/26463908/
Status:
Active
Image Credit:
Image from NamUS.gov
Last Updated: October 31, 2024
