Man walking dog found human remains in 2000, Colorado cops say. Now they’re identified
More than two decades after a man walking his dog in a field stumbled on human remains, they’ve been identified, Colorado deputies say.
Using DNA technology, the remains were identified as Christopher Scott Case, of Wyoming, the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said in a June 5 Facebook post.
At the time the remains were recovered on Valentine’s Day in 2000, investigators “found no evidence of foul play” at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said an anthropologist analyzed the remains and determined they belonged to a man between the ages of 35 and 50 years old who stood 5 feet, 4 inches tall.
The man, whose body showed no signs of trauma, may have had a tattoo in the middle of his back, deputies said.
Due to severe decomposition, deputies said the man’s cause and manner of death could not be determined.
For decades, the man’s identity remained a mystery.
“This case was as cold as they get,” Detective Byron Kastilahn said in the release. “There was no evidence other than the human remains.”
But in 2022, deputies said they looked to forensic genetic genealogy.
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.
As of November, genetic genealogy has been used by authorities to solve more than 400 crimes across the nation, NewsNation reported.
Using DNA testing, deputies said they found the man’s potential relatives in Nevada, and they submitted DNA samples for comparison.
“Kastilahn got the break he had been waiting for” in December when the results tentatively identified the remains as Case, deputies said.
After further testing, deputies said the remains were confirmed to be Case.
“If not for forensic genetic genealogy, Christopher Case would not have ever been identified,” Kastilahn said.
Deputies said Case was living in Rock Springs, Wyoming, prior to his death.
He was last seen by his half brother in Nevada in 1998, according to officials.
Weld County is about a 70-mile drive northeast of Denver.
This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Man walking dog found human remains in 2000, Colorado cops say. Now they’re identified."
