Human remains found in 1991 identified as Ohio man missing since 1988
12/14/2022 1:20 pm PST
PICKAWAY COUNTY, Ohio (TCD) -- Officials have positively identified skeletal remains found 31 years ago in a rural area as a missing 21-year-old man.
The Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office and Ohio Attorney General’s Office announced the news about the findings Tuesday, Dec. 13. According to a statement, on Nov. 1, 1991, hunters came across skeletal remains buried in a shallow grave on a private farm lane near State Route 56 East.
Investigators initially thought the remains were those of an Indigenous American woman about 25 years old because the estimated height of the person was 5-foot-1 to 5-foot-4. Anthropologists reportedly determined the remains had been in the ground for "no more than three years."
According to the statement, scientists at North Texas University studied the remains in 2012 and extracted some DNA, which helped them determine the bones belonged to a male.
Nine years later, in 2021, Dr. John Ellis and Pickaway County Lt. Johnathan Strawser requested additional testing, which helped create a DNA profile of the man. In January 2022, Strawser and Ellis contacted AdvanceDNA for help identifying the John Doe.
Scientists from AdvanceDNA put the profile into different genealogy systems, which concluded "the man’s father would likely have connections to Virginia and his mother would be of English and Indian heritage, with recent immigration to the United States."
On Nov. 1, 2022, AdvanceDNA scientists met with the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office and said they came up with a "strong lead in his identity" after finding genetic matches. The man was finally identified as 21-year-old Robert A. Mullins.
Mullins' family told the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office he went missing in late 1988 or early 1989 and lived in Columbus. The family reportedly made several efforts to locate him but never succeeded.
According to the statement, "Robert’s absence was a great source of pain in their lives, especially in the life of his late mother Catherine, who never stopped looking for her son."
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a press conference Mullins' death "may have been a homicide."
He added, "Thirty-one Christmases have come and gone. I was thinking about a headstone with no name on it. We’re all going to die at some point. It’s the one point that’s certain about our lives on this earth. But what a tragedy to die unknown, to not have a name to put on a memorial. Today, that circle closes."
Yost also said he hopes it is the "first step" to justice for Mullins' family.
MORE:
TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page for podcasts, exclusive videos, and more, and don’t forget to follow us on TikTok.
