TUCSON, Ariz. — The Pima County Medical Examiner's Office is putting out a call for help to hopefully solve a cold case.
20 years ago, in September of 2004, a teenager was shot and killed near the border. Now, genealogists think he may have family in the Tucson area, but they say we might never figure out his name unless more relatives come forward.
"He was in an area that, at the time was more restricted to drug smuggling than people smuggling, just inside the border, not too far from Sasabe, Mexico," said Dr. Bruce Anderson, a forensic anthropologist at the medical examiner's office.
He says over the years, they've learned very few details about the teenager, known now as "Sasabe John Doe," but they are inching closer toward a possible identification.
"We've had his case and his fingerprints in the FBI database for 20 years. We've had his DNA in the FBI DNA database for 15 years," Anderson explained. "He doesn't match himself. Too young probably. It's possible he'd never been here before."
His body was found just a few days after he was killed, and his face was still intact enough that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was able to create a clear rendering of him.
"He got sideways with somebody. Somebody put bullets in him, and either dumped him or killed him there," Anderson said. "That area is not too far from from a dirt road, no pavement."
Sasabe John Doe was between 16 and 20 years old. He was 5'8" tall, with a thin build. He was wearing a blue sweatshirt, green jeans, and red, white and black high tops sneaker, and he was holding two red beans with black markings in his pocket. Those beans are often carried as a good lucky charm by members of the Yaqui tribe.
Anderson says when they learned that information, he talked with tribal police, but they haven't been able to match the young man to any missing persons reports. Anderson says every possible match they've come up with, they've been able to definitively rule out.
Recently an investigative genealogy group called Moxxy Forensic Investigations, took up the case. They refer to Sasabe John Doe as "Victoriano" for a more personal connection, and a reminder that he was a human being, rather than just a cold case. The name though, is simply a place holder.
Through DNA profiling, Moxxy was able to find out that his DNA is more than 50% Native American, with ties to Sonoran Mexico, Tucson, and Tohono O'odham. They say there are also a few areas of particular interest, Altar, La Colorado, Hermosillo, Mazatán, and Ures.
When Moxxy uploaded his genetic profile to a public database, and began working through his genealogy, it led them to a distant cousin. Melissa Stevens grew up outside of Phoenix, and now lives with her family in Maryland. When she got a call from the Moxxy investigators, it came as a surprise. She never even knew Sasabe John Doe existed.
"He looks like my family. He looks like my brother, which was very jarring to see. Same eyes, same hair, same build, same skin color. He could have been a person at a family reunion," Stevens recalled. "I have a connection to this person. How can I not be moved to do something about it?"
Stevens' lifelong love of genealogy was the reason she put her own results from 23andMe tests and Ancestry.com into the public database, GedMatch. Now, she's volunteering with Moxxy Forensic Investigations, trying to help identify more people whose cases have gone cold, including her distant cousin.
She says she just hopes people will understand, DNA tests are easy and painless, and if the right person in our community took one, they could give her cousin his name back.
"The Pima County area especially, there are a whole lot of distant cousins, and there are probably more people who haven't done their DNA yet," she said. "He could have siblings, he could have second cousins, he could have people who are a lot closer than I am walking around out there."
Until that DNA match comes though, the remains of Sasabe John Doe will sit at the medical examiner's office, unclaimed and unidentified, waiting for a connection to bring some answers.
"If we could give him his name back, and have his family be aware of that and come to our office and claim his ashes, that would be a good thing," Dr. Anderson said.
He says it's not uncommon for family members of young men, especially when they're the victims of violence, to never come forward. He says they're often too scared of being implicated, or targeted by their loved one's killer.
But if you think you might be related to Sasabe John Doe, you can reach out to the medical examiner's office at (520) 724-8600.
You can also go the route of taking a genealogy test through one of several online companies. Once you get your results, you'll be able to download a raw file, which you can upload to the public database online, GedMatch.com.
Claire Graham is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. She grew up in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in musical theatre. Claire spent a decade in Washington state, where she worked in journalism, met her husband and welcomed their baby boy, before moving back home. Share your story ideas and important issues with Claire by emailing claire.graham@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
