Latest news with #KristenMittelman
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Missing Wrestler's Remains Found, Identified Due To DNA Testing
Remains of missing wrestler Keeble Wofford Sr. identified through DNA testing after over 20 years. Authorities have identified human remains found in 2001 as Keeble Wofford Sr., a former professional wrestler and actor who vanished in 1992. Texas-based forensic DNA company Othram confirmed the identification using DNA testing technology. Keeble Wofford's remains were found by Hikers in 2001 in the Santa Fe National Forest and reported them to authorities, who listed the case as 'Sandoval County John Doe.' In 2021, DNA testing by Othram matched the remains to a sample from Wofford's daughter, confirming his identity. The lab used its specialized 'forensic-grade genome sequencing' to create a detailed DNA profile. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator has issued a death certificate for Wofford. His cremated remains will be returned to his daughter. The Othram's Chief Development Officer, Kristen Mittelman said people should know that no matter how old a case is or how hopeless it once seemed, today's technology can still bring answers. Mittelman said, 'People should know that it doesn't matter how old a case is, or whether it was hopeless in the past, there is technology here today that is able to bring answers to families like in this case. This was a well-known man who just disappeared more than 20 years ago and now he has his name again.' Investigators believe he vanished while traveling from Pueblo, Colorado to Albuquerque for a business meeting in September 1992. Keeble Wofford Sr. wrestled in the 1950s as Kimo Mahi. El Paso Herald-Post once called Mahi a 'brave Hawaiian wrestler' in their column. He also acted in films and TV shows, including Twilight for the Gods, Hawaiian Eye and Sea Hunt. Read More: The post Missing Wrestler's Remains Found, Identified Due To DNA Testing appeared first on Wrestlezone.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Yahoo
DNA analysis company hired to help crack 4 of Shasta County's unsolved homicides
One of the unidentified homicide victims was a man killed in Lakehead in 2003, his body found in a shallow grave near a pair of old metal handcuffs that were on the ground. Three other unsolved homicides in Shasta County were reported in 1979, 1990 and 2013. Those people and the perpetrators also remain unknown. The Shasta County Coroner's Office hopes the identities of victims in these four homicides will be solved through its recent partnership with a private company that specializes in investigative genetic genealogy — the study of human DNA to sleuth out information that helps solve crimes. "We partner with law enforcement to be able to solve cases that otherwise would be a DNA dead end," said Kristen Mittelman, chief development officer for Texas-based Othram. 'People shouldn't have to wait 20 years to find out what happened to their loved one or where their loved one is.' Where are they?: Dozens of unresolved homicide cases linger in Redding, Shasta County Law enforcement agencies rely on traditional testing of evidence from a homicide scene that could include strands of hair or fragments of bone. That doesn't always lead to an answer. "We're spinning our wheels on these cases that have undergone every other type of analysis," said Shasta County Deputy Coroner Investigator Hailey Collord-Stalder. After that, "there's nothing left to do" except use investigative genetic genealogy, also known as forensic genetic genealogy, she said. "It's just the combination of DNA analysis and genealogy. So it's got that two-part component, those two parts that really bring it all together," said Collord-Stalder. She said Othram officials contacted the Shasta coroner's office last year about one of the county's unsolved homicide cases the agency had listed in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. That national government database, also known as NamUS, helps investigators match long-term missing persons cases with unidentified remains. Rather than the case Othram originally got in touch about, Collord-Stalder said her agency asked the company to first use its technology to analyze the unsolved Lakehead homicide from 2003. She said: "We haven't been able to do anything about it, which is really unfortunate, simply because we didn't know the identity of the victim. And so when justice is being prevented, simply because we can't ID someone, any means necessary to get them ID'd is really important." As part of their investigation, the coroner's office examined DNA from the scene and sent a sample to the California Department of Justice's index system of DNA. Any matches found there would "have to be really closely related, like a parent or a sibling or a child" of the victim, said Collord-Stalder. But forensic genealogy company Othram "can look at sequences of DNA and match it to potentially somebody like an eighth great grandparent or a fourth cousin who could be related to your unidentified remains or your unidentified suspect sample. And so from there, that genealogist can start to map where this individual may have come from," she said. Vanished: 19 disappearances that are still without answers in Redding, Shasta County DNA repositories at private companies from samples collected from people seeking information about their heritage can also assist agents pursuing hard-to-solve crimes. Those DNA profiles can go into a genetic repository, making the information "useful for law enforcement," she said. Collord-Stalder said forensic genetic genealogy information helped solve the Golden State Killer case: "They were able to match his DNA profile to somebody in his family who had uploaded to one of those sites." Authorities said a father and his adult daughter were setting fox traps in an area off Dog Creek Road north of Lakehead when the father glimpsed a pair of old handcuffs on the ground and then spied a shallow grave that appeared to have been dug up by a bear. The trappers called Shasta County law enforcement, who ruled the man's death a homicide after finding bones, skull fragments and strands of dark hair at the site, in addition to the handcuffs. Traditional investigation methods to sleuth out information failed to identify the man, who had foot-long, straight brown-black hair and was of average to below-average height. It was unclear whether the man was killed where his body was found, or if his body was dumped there, information from Othram said. Othram's services cost about $7,500 per case, an amount typically covered by funders such as the law enforcement agency requesting the service, as well as private donors and money provided by federal government groups that in the Lakehead case included NamUS. The Shasta coroner's division also donated $200 toward the cost of getting the Lakehead homicide case analyzed using Othram's technology, Collord-Stalder said. Mittelman said after Othram gets involved, finishing its analysis and coming back with new leads can take four to six weeks. 'We've already solved dozens of cases in California by using this technology, so we're optimistic we can determine this man's identity,' said Mittelman. Michele Chandler covers public safety, dining and whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@ Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today. This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County hopes DNA analysis can answer unsolved murders
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Yahoo
Renewed effort in Pueblo to identify burned human remains found in 2017
(PUEBLO, Colo.) — A renewed effort in Pueblo is being aided by a forensic DNA lab to help identify the burned remains of a man who was found after a grass fire in Pueblo in 2017. According to previous coverage by our sister station in Denver, FOX31, the burned remains of a man were found in April 2017, after crews had extinguished a fire in a field east of the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk, near Gruma Road. The man's identity has remained unsolved since 2017. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Skeletal remains found in debris of Pueblo brush fire – FOX31 Now, the Pueblo County Coroner's Office and the Pueblo Police Department have partnered with Othram, a forensic DNA lab near Houston, to identify the man. 'The ever-developing and emerging DNA technology is a blessing,' said Brian Cotter, Pueblo County Coroner. 'This technology helps us to find identity for even our most difficult cases.' According to Othram, investigators determined that the remains had been in the field for an undetermined period of time before the fire. The remains were charred in the fire but not destroyed. 'People need to know that even though this is an old case, and even though the remains were burned, we have the ability to identify this man,' said Kristen Mittelman, Chief Development Officer at Othram. 'Whoever this man was, his family deserves to know what happened to him and we can make that happen.' Investigators have determined the man was an adult who stood between 5'11' and 6'3″ tall, and was of either white or Latino descent. According to Othram, at the time the man's remains were discovered, there were no other identifying characteristics that would help lead investigators toward an identity. After the remains were recovered, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, though no match has ever been made. The new partnership between authorities in Pueblo and Othram will allow DNA testing of the remains to expand the identification efforts. Othram said scientists will work to develop a suitable DNA extract that can be used to develop a comprehensive DNA profile, to be used in records research and forensic genetic genealogy. Anyone with information that could aid in the investigation is encouraged to contact the Pueblo County Coroner's Office by calling 719-583-4673 and referencing agency case number 196-2017. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
