On Aug. 15, 1978, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call to investigate human remains found by loggers in a remote wooded area near the Village of Warrens, Township of Knapp, Jackson County, Wisconsin. Search of the area by officials resulted in the recovery of a skull, lower mandible, and vertebra. The results of a limited autopsy indicated the deceased was a white male between the ages of 28 and 52. A silver-colored "Medi-Stud" brand earring, normally used by piercing salons, was also discovered near the remains, leading investigators to theorize the deceased had at least one pierced ear. Any other remains were never located. His death is regarded as “presumed homicide.”
Then, on March 31, 2021, the Wisconsin Department of Justice, DCI, (WDJ), the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), and the DNA Doe Project (DDP) announced the identity of the Wisconsin man known only as “Jackson County John Doe 1978” for 43 years as Dennis Regan McConn.
Born in 1947 in De Kalb, Illinois, McConn was last seen by his family leaving his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin in January 1977.
DDP was first contacted for assistance with this case in early 2019. After DNA extraction, sequencing, and bioinformatics were complete, files were uploaded to GEDmatch in September of 2020; the team began their research efforts on September 12. Extraction was difficult, however, and took several attempts by different laboratories. According to Team Leader Jenny Lecus, after data was finally uploaded to Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) in late November, within three days they were able to identify Jackson County John Doe 1978 as Dennis Regan McConn. In total, the team spent over 270 hours in their research.
The DNA Doe Project wishes to acknowledge the contributions of those groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the WDJ-DCI and Special Agent Joseph Welsch who brought us the case; DNA Solutions and the International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague for DNA extraction; HudsonAlpha Discovery for sequencing; Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations for bioinformatics; GEDmatch and FTDNA for providing their databases; our generous donors; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer genealogists who researched and provided WDJ with the identity of the victim.
This is the third Wisconsin case in which DDP has been involved. Genealogical research for this case was provided pro bono by DDP volunteers. Their reward, Team Leaders say, is the thrill of helping provide a name once again to someone who has been known only as “John Doe” for so many years.
Republished courtesy of DDP. Photo credit: UNT Center for Human Identification/DDP