DNA Doe Project identifies John Doe found in Oregon in 1992
Skeletal remains identified as missing Massachusetts man
Portland, OR – More than thirty years after his body was discovered in Portland, Oregon, St. Johns Bridge John Doe has been identified as Bryant Edward Deane. Deane was a native of Massachusetts, thousands of miles from where he was found, and he would’ve been about 39 years old at the time of his death.
Bryant Deane
On August 17, 1992, workers clearing a plot of land near the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon discovered the skeletonized remains of a man covered in thick brush. No cause of death was determined, but the remains showed signs of lower back disease that might have caused chronic pain. One of the man’s legs was significantly shorter than the other, which likely caused him to walk with a limp. A forensic anthropologist estimated his age at 50-70 and determined that he was only 5’ to 5’3” tall.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office later brought this case to the DNA Doe Project, whose expert volunteer investigative genetic genealogists work pro bono to identify John and Jane Does. Soon after the genealogy research on the case commenced, it became clear that the unidentified man had deep roots in Franklin County, Massachusetts, but around the same time a number of challenges emerged.
“While our initial impression was that this case could be quite straightforward, we quickly realized that was not the case,” said team co-leader Eric Hendershott. “Misattributed parentage events in the trees of our highest matches, combined with New England pedigree collapse, made this quite the challenging case.”
Over the course of five months, the team on this case built out a family tree for the unidentified man that grew to contain nearly 20,000 people, tracing family trees back as far as 16th century England. Finally, a connection was made between two of the key families of interest – a couple who’d married in Northfield, Massachusetts in 1951. Upon further research, it emerged that one of their children seemed to have disappeared from the public records; his name was Bryant Deane.
While the estimated age range for St. Johns Bridge John Doe was 50 to 70 years old, Deane would’ve only been 39 or so at the time of his death. But in spite of this discrepancy, further DNA testing later confirmed that the unidentified man was in fact Bryant Deane.
“This was a case where one small DNA match helped fill in the connections that our higher matches could not,” said team leader Jeana Feehery. “This highlights how even distant relatives of Does can help us solve cases – every piece of the puzzle is important.”
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for DNA extraction; Genologue for sequencing; Kevin Lord for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro, DNAJustice and FamilyTreeDNA for providing their databases; our generous donors who joined our mission and contributed to this case; and the DNA Doe Project’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring all our John and Jane Does home.
Doe-Nate Fund Goal: $7,450
This case was fully funded through the AUDIOCHUCK Fund for the Unidentified.
Description:
On August 17, 1992, workers clearing a plot of land near the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon discovered the skeletonized remains of a man covered in thick brush. No cause of death was determined, but the remains showed signs of lower back disease that might have caused chronic pain. One of the man’s legs was significantly shorter than the other, which likely caused him to walk with a limp. A forensic anthropologist estimated his age at 50-70, and he was between 5’ and 5’3” tall. When discovered, the skeleton was fully clothed, including a fleece-lined maroon jacket, dark blue jeans, lace-up boots, and gloves.
NamUs ID:
UP8259
Date Body Found:
August 17, 1992
Race:
White/Caucasian
Sex:
Male
Estimated Age:
50-70
Estimated PMI:
up to a year
Agency of Jurisdiction:
Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office
Sean Hurst, MD
(503) 932-8130
Sean.hurst@osp.oregon.gov
More Information:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/8259/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1092162400/
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2600umor.html
Status:
Identified
Last Updated: October 14, 2025
