Remains found in 2001 in Ohio confirmed to be Pontiac man missing since 1994
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office hosted a press conference with Stark County Sheriff Eric Weisburn Tuesday to
give the announcement
and discuss the case, which is suspected to be a homicide. Family members of Gulley who still live in Michigan were watching on livestream video, the officials said.
"This is kind of a bittersweet announcement," Yost said during the press conference.
"We have been able to give Stark County John Doe his name back," the sheriff said.
Ohio BCI Criminal Intelligence Analyst Samantha Reeb and Traci Onders from the DNA Doe Project also spoke on behalf of their agencies, which were involved in the investigation.
Gulley, then age 24, was reported missing Sept. 11, 1994, after he failed to show up for work, the AG's office said. News reports at the time indicate that he may have been a murder victim; but his remains could not be found. His burned-out car was found Sept. 12, 1994, in Akron, Ohio.
The records that were filed at the time with the Pontiac Police Department were transferred later to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, as the city no longer has its own law enforcement agency.
In the meantime, the remains of a person found in 2001 in Canton, which is in northeast Ohio near Akron, were found. New technology and genetic DNA databases have evolved to the point where matches between missing people and unidentified remains are possible in cases where this couldn't be done years ago – and that's what happened in this case.
The
DNA Doe project
was founded in 2017 to help law enforcement agencies and medical examiner offices work on solving the cases of unidentified people. The organization said its success stories include some of the first identifications credited to genetic genealogy.
With genetic genealogy, DNA samples found at crime scenes are compared to samples from people who voluntarily provide their DNA to assist in such research.
Reeb said the laboratory work on Gulley's case took months to complete, but once that step finished, they found a possible lead very quickly through the DNA databases. With that information, law enforcement officials got DNA samples from Gulley's family members and confirmed the connection.
"It has been an honor for us to give Mr. Gulley his name back," the sheriff said.
In the meantime, researchers at Ohio State University found evidence of what they believe to be a bullet wound that could have caused his death.
There also had been both a clay facial reconstruction and digital facial reconstruction images prepared of the Stark County John Doe.
The theory related at the press conference is that Gulley was killed in Pontiac, and then his body was taken to northeast Ohio.
But the detailed answers will never be learned.
The man believed to be the suspect in this case, George Frederick "Ricky" Washington, died Sept. 30, 1994 of a self-inflicted wound after a confrontation with law enforcement, according to reports at the press conference.
"The answers to when and how he died – and why his body ended up in Canton only to be discovered seven years later – likely died with Washington in 1994," the press release said.
A death certificate has been filed in Michigan.
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