Remains found in fishing net ID'd as CA sailor missing since 1997, officials say

Miami Herald

10-07-2025

Nearly three decades after a fisherman vanished from a California bay, remains found in 2021 have been identified as his, officials say.
Remains found just outside Monterey Bay have been identified as Jeffrey Hulliger, Matthew L'Heureux, assistant district attorney with the Monterey County District Attorney's Office said in a July 9 email to McClatchy News.
Remains found in fishing net
'In October 2021, the skeletal remains of an unknown individual wearing a one-piece jumpsuit/fleece longjohns … were found after becoming entangled in a fishing net' outside Monterey Bay, Othram Inc., the Texas-based genetic genealogy company that helped identify the remains, said in a July 7 news release.
After the remains were turned over to the Monterey County Coroner's Division, investigators determined the remains belonged to a man between the ages of 35 and 50 years old, who stood between 5 feet, 8 inches and 6 feet, 3 inches tall, the company said.
The man had no identifying information but was carrying five keys and two coins, Othram said.
Efforts to identify the man were not successful and his case went cold, the company said.
Investigators entered his case into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the company said.
Genetic genealogy leads to ID
Then, in 2022, investigators set their sights to genetic genealogy in hopes of identifying the man.
Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with 'traditional genealogical methods' to create 'family history profiles,' according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.
The Monterey County District Attorney's Office Cold Case Task Force partnered with Othram to determine if DNA testing could help bring closure to the man's case.
Investigators sent DNA to Othram, where scientists built 'a comprehensive DNA profile' for the man, the company said.
Othram said its forensic genetic genealogy team used this profile to create new leads for investigators, which led them to the man's potential relatives.
A relative provided DNA for testing, which confirmed the remains belonged to Hulliger, the company said.
In 1997, 36-year-old Hulliger was fishing with a friend, Greg Mitchell, in Monterey Bay when they vanished, Othram said.
In a distress signal, the two said their boat, 'The Salmon Patty,' was taking on water, and the U.S. Coast Guard searched for them, Othram said.
However, the sailors were never found.
Two years after Hulliger went missing, his brother told a newspaper that he urged his brother 'not go out fishing for black cod that day because the weather was so bad,' Othram said.
The brother, John Hulliger, told the newspaper he believed both men had 'drowned when their boat capsized in 18-foot waves off Point Reyes,' the company said.