KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The TBI hopes an initiative that takes advantage of genetic science breakthroughs will at last provide answers to some of Tennessee's longest-running mysteries: the identities of human remains discovered decades ago.
The state agency's Unidentified Human Remains Initiative secured $100,000 last year in one-time money from the Legislature. It will be used to cover the costs of specialized forensic genetic genealogy testing, a method that's proven successful in recent months and years in revealing the names of people once considered unidentifiable.
It's a kind of DNA cold-case project.
The TBI planned to discuss the initiative Wednesday morning at its regional office in Knoxville.
Othram Inc., of the Woodlands, Texas, near Dallas, got the remains in December of 10 of the TBI's unsolved identity cases.
Othram has had recent success in figuring out the identities of several Tennesseans including a girl whose skull was found on a Campbell County mountainside back in 1985. Their genetic detective work helped lead authorities to realize the bones were those of an Indiana girl named Tracy Sue Walker who disappeared in 1978.
In March, authorities revealed that Othram had helped figure out the identity of a woman whose remains were found in December 1974 near a Gatlinburg mountain tramway.
WBIR's "Appalachian Unsolved" series has highlighted both cases.
Othram also is working to find out the name of a woman found nude in 2000 in Melton Hill Lake as well as the origin of a newborn found in the lake in early 2020.
Othram is drawing out DNA samples from the 10 sets of remains submitted by the TBI. It will then work to develop a digital genetic profile that can be compared to a vast database of genetic data online that will hopefully lead to a match with living relatives. It's happening weekly if not daily across the United States these days.
The TBI has included information about the 10 cases now in study on the web page.
The oldest remains being studied are from Johnson County in 1977.
Among the East Tennessee cases under review are those of a woman found in McMinn County and the bones of men found in Claiborne, Loudon and Cocke counties.
The Regional Forensic Center is engaged in its own, similar project with hopes of identifying 16 people found in Knox County. It's applied for a $116,500 grant through U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett's appropriations for community project funding. The center expects a decision next month.
