x
Breaking News
More () »

Nearly 40 years later, remains found in Macon identified as missing teen

An almost 40-year-old cold case has been solved thanks to advancements in DNA technology

On February 12, 1979, a 15-year-old Michigan boy ran away from his Clayton home, never to be seen again.

His mother called to report her son missing around dinner time, police arrived half an hour later at their home, and an hour later they cleared the scene.

The last time anyone saw him, he was leaving Addison High School – about 15 miles away from his house – in a blue quilted parka and white high tops.

---

Two days later – on Valentine’s Day -- an unknown teen was hit and killed by a semi-truck while hitchhiking down I-75 near Macon.

For almost four decades, the remains were known to investigators as ‘John Doe’ and the case went cold.

---

Thanks to advancements in DNA technology, the case has thawed.

Investigators have closed a decades-old missing persons case and identified the remains as being one in the same – Andrew Jackson Greer (Bowman) II.

A news release from Michigan State Police issued on Tuesday connected the two after a forensic analyst from the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas confirmed the DNA of Greer and ‘John Doe’ were identical.

A retired Bibb deputy made the connection between the two in Dec. 2017 and notified Michigan State Police, who traveled to Macon in April to exhume the body from its pauper’s grave.

DNA from the remains was taken by the GBI and sent to the center in Texas where results showed the DNA was 1.9 trillion times more likely to be Greer’s than not.

Greer’s body will be returned home to Michigan, according to the release.

Before You Leave, Check This Out