Cleveland man who went missing in 1980 identified as Cuyahoga County John Doe
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Advancements in DNA technology helped local officials uncover the identity of a Cuyahoga County John Doe whose remains were found 45 years ago.
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During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson identified the man as Danny Lee Mitchell of Cleveland who was reported missing by his family on April 2, 1980. He was 20 years old at the time of his disappearance and was last seen in the 6300 block of Euclid Avenue.
Unidentified skeletal remains were found May 17, 1980 at 2041 East 65st Street in Cleveland, just .13 miles from the location where Mitchell was last seen.
'At that time in 1980, DNA had yet to be used in criminal work so we didn't have any DNA until 1986 and it really didn't become prevalent until about 5 to 10 years later in most places,' said Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson, who led the Wednesday press conference.
No cause of death was ever identified with the skeletal remains and the manner of death was left undetermined. However, a cluster of scalp hair was preserved from the original autopsy of the Cuyahoga County remains before they were buried in Potter's Field.
In November of 2017, Mitchell's family saw a press conference with Twinsburg Police during which a facial reconstruction of a Summit County John Doe was featured. The family then reported Danny Mitchell as a possible candidate and submitted their own DNA for testing, however it was not a match.
Mitchell's case was then submitted to NamUS, a national database of missing and unidentified persons that facilitates comparisons across cities, counties and states.
In 2020, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office launched an internal initiative to add cold cases into NamUs which led to investigators to discover a possible match between one of the Cuyahoga County unidentified-remains cases and Danny Mitchell's.
Finally in February of 2025, following several more years of testing, a DNA profile developed from the hair sample was found to be a direct comparison of the Cuyahoga County John Doe's profile.
'The idea of bringing somebody home to their family never becomes something we'll stop trying to do,' said Dr. Wilson.
Mitchell's family members were in attendance during Wednesday's press conference.
His sisters Bernice Mitchell and Betty Borden told Fox 8's Rex Smith that while this gives them some closure, they still want to know what happened to their brother.
'We just want closure. I know he was very known. Everybody loved him. Everybody. So the family really don't understand and we appreciate any help that ya'll can give the family,' said Bernice Mitchell.
'…and find out what happened. Cause it still bothers me. This is closure, but it still bothers me because I don't know what happened to him,' Borden added.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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