DNA Doe Project identifies John Doe found in Washington, D.C.
Man found dead in 2020 identified as Darryl Williamson
Washington, D.C. – Five years after the body of a man was found inside a house in Washington, D.C., the DNA Doe Project has identified him as Darryl Terence Williamson. A D.C. native, Williamson was 59 years old at the time of his death.
On October 4, 2020, the body of an African American man was found inside of a home on Naylor Road in Washington, D.C. Authorities estimated he was 50 to 70 years old, approximately 5’4” tall and 160 pounds. The unidentified man was not a resident of the address, and he was unknown to both the homeowner and neighbors.
In 2022, the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner brought this case to the DNA Doe Project, whose expert investigative genetic genealogists volunteer their time to identify John and Jane Does. Unfortunately, the team assigned to this case soon ran into some of the obstacles that can make it difficult to identify African American Does.
“The closest DNA matches we had to work with were in the 3rd cousin range,” said co-team leader, Rebecca Somerhalder. “We rely on people uploading to GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice in order to identify John and Jane Does, but African Americans are underrepresented in these databases.”
Despite this hurdle, the team discovered that the John Doe was likely a descendant of a couple who were both born in Maryland in the early 1800s. That couple were living in Prince George’s County, Maryland by 1870, just 15 miles from where their unidentified descendant would be found dead 150 years later.
Following this breakthrough, the team began tracking down the descendants of this couple. They were eventually able to hone in on a specific family and the medical examiner’s office then reached out to them. A conversation with a relative revealed that a member of the family, Darryl Williamson, had not been heard from for some time, and it became apparent that he had not been seen since before the John Doe was found.
It was later confirmed that Darryl Williamson was indeed the man known formerly as Naylor Road John Doe. DNA Doe Project volunteers spent thousands of hours on this case, working pro bono in an effort to restore this man’s identity to him.
“Our team was diligent in working through complicated records,” said Gwen Knapp, co-team leader. “I’m grateful to the D.C. medical examiner’s office for entrusting the DNA Doe Project with identifying Darryl Williamson, and we are happy to help give answers to his family.”
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Genologue for DNA extraction and sequencing; Kevin Lord for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA for providing their databases; our generous donors who joined our mission and contributed to 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 October 4, 2020, the body of an African American man was found inside of a home on Naylor Road in Washington D.C. The deceased was estimated to be between 50-70 years old, approximately 5’4” tall and 160 pounds. He had black hair and brown eyes. The man was unknown to the homeowner and neighbors.
NamUs ID: UP78616
Date Body Found: 10/7/2020
Race: Black/African American
Sex: Male
Estimated Age: 50-70
Estimated PMI: 1 day
Agency of Jurisdiction:
DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Dr. Tony Falsetti
(202) 698-9000
More Information:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/78616?nav
Status: Identified
Image Credit: Carl Koppelmann
This case was fully funded by our generous donors.
Last Updated: January 27, 2025
