WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Remains found in a Weld County field more than two decades ago have finally been identified as a Wyoming man who was last seen in 1998.
According to the Weld County Sheriff's Office, a man was walking his dog in the field near East Eighth Avenue and Weld County Road 43 on Feb. 14, 2000, when he found the remains. Deputies and investigators responded to the scene and found no evidence of foul play.
They were unable to identify the man, and his remains were sent to a forensic anthropologist who determined the remains belonged to a white man who was between 35 and 50 years old.
There was no indication of trauma, and investigators could not determine his cause or manner of death due to the condition of the remains. Until recently the remains were known as John Doe 2000.
In 2022, forensic genetic genealogy was done with DNA from the remains. Through that, investigators located relatives in Nevada, who willingly submitted their DNA to help solve this case.
In December last year, Cold Case Detective Byron Kastilahn got the break he had been waiting for when the results of the genetic genealogy testing came back. The remains were tentatively identified as Christopher Scott Case. Additional genetic testing was done to confirm that the remains belonged to Case.
Investigators determined Case had been living in Rock Springs, Wyoming before his death. He was last seen by his half-brother in Nevada in 1998.
“This case was as cold as they get. There was no evidence other than the human remains. If not for forensic genetic genealogy, Christopher Case would not have ever been identified. After learning about forensic genetic genealogy in 2020, I wanted to try to get all our unidentified human remains (UHR) cases into that process. So far, we have identified three UHR cases and I hope they can all be identified eventually," Kastilahn said in a news release.
"Regardless of the passage of time, our dedication to resolving all cold cases remains unwavering," the sheriff's office said in the release. "In cold cases such as Christopher's, we relentlessly pursue investigative leads, employ forensic tools, and hope that he will be identified, so his story will be told, and his loved ones will find peace in getting the answers they deserve."
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