Credit: DDP
Forty-six years after his skeletal remains were found in Flagstaff, DNA Doe Project and its law enforcement partners have identified the man formerly known as Flagstaff Kowboy John Doe. While his name is not being released, the man was a resident of Arizona, born in 1881. Though he was not originally from there, he was known to be living in Arizona at the time of his disappearance in 1956, twenty-four years before his remains were discovered.
In July 1980, hikers discovered the partial skeletal remains of a man in Flagstaff, Arizona. He was discovered under some fallen trees in a wooded area of the city, near the Kowboy Kountry Club. Investigators estimated the man had been dead for more than 20 years at the time of the discovery, based on the style of his clothing and items found with his body. His remains showed evidence of a gunshot wound and a rusted revolver was found with his body.
Decades later, the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office brought this case to DNA Doe Project, whose expert investigative genetic genealogists work pro bono to help law enforcement agencies identify John and Jane Does.
A team from DNA Doe Project began work on this case in early 2026 and quickly established that the unidentified man had deep roots in the South, as well as a recent ancestor from England. Using Cornish parish records and 19th-century newspaper articles, they were able to zero in on a Mormon family that had settled in the Idaho Territory. Shortly afterwards, they made a major breakthrough.
“This family had a son who was born nearly a century before Flagstaff Kowboy John Doe was discovered,” said Rebecca Somerhalder, the primary team leader for the case. “But we soon found evidence that he had disappeared in 1956 and that his family had searched for him to no avail.”
Newspaper articles revealed that the man’s grandchildren had searched for him throughout the 50s and 60s, with no clue as to his whereabouts. With both the genetic and circumstantial evidence lining up, DNA Doe Project presented him as a candidate to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office, after which investigators reached out to his surviving family. Further DNA testing later confirmed that this man was indeed Flagstaff Kowboy John Doe. During the confirmation process, investigators from Coconino County spoke with some of the relatives who had searched for their missing grandfather all those years ago; after seventy years, they finally have some answers.
DNA Doe Project is grateful to the organizations and individuals whose work made this identification possible: the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office, which entrusted us with the case; the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, for their work to confirm this identification; Bode Technology and Astrea Forensics for the lab work; GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA for providing access to their databases; the donors who generously supported our mission; and DNA Doe Project’s dedicated volunteer investigative genetic genealogists, who work tirelessly to help return John and Jane Does to their families and communities.
Republished courtesy of DNA Doe Project