The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office finally knows the name of a man whose body was found in a waterway near Lake Worth Beach more than four decades ago.
Archie Patterson Jr.’s body was discovered in a waterway at the 2400 block of 10th Avenue North near Lake Worth Beach on Nov. 25, 1983, the sheriff’s office said on Sept. 3. An autopsy determined that the man accidentally drowned.
At the time, the sheriff’s office estimated that the man was between 25 and 35 years old, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and had brown hair with a reddish-brown beard and mustache.
PBSO Forensic Imaging Unit detectives created an image showing what he might have looked like and sent the image out to the public, hoping that someone would recognize him. Those efforts were
unsuccessful, the sheriff’s office said.
How was Archie Patterson Jr. identified?
The breakthrough came in 2025 through a forensic genetic genealogy investigation with Othram, a Houston-area laboratory with whom the sheriff's office partners. It tested the remains' DNA and provided Cold Case Unit and Forensic Biology Unit detectives with leads drawn from genealogy research.
Othram provided more leads identifying possible relatives of the man. Through more genealogical research and analysis, investigators found information showing that the man could be Patterson, born on Aug. 15, 1940.
PBSO detectives traveled to California in August to interview someone who was believed to be his child. They compared the person’s DNA with that of Patterson.
This — and forensic investigative genetic genealogy efforts from Ortha, the PBSO Forensic Biology, Genetic Genealogy Unit and a kinship analysis by Othram — confirmed that the man was Archie Patterson Jr. He was 43 years old when he died.
“Archie Patterson Jr.’s next of kin has been notified, bringing a decades-long effort to identify him to a close,” reads a PBSO press release. “The investigation is now closed.”
Patterson Jr. is the latest person in the county identified through the use of forensic investigative genetic genealogy. Other cases that it has helped to solve include the death of William Wolfgang McKinnis, the 1985 murder of 78-year-old Mildred Mathen and the death of Baby June, an infant found in the Boynton Inlet in June 2018.
Maya Washburn is a Trending News Reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Now they know his name: DNA tests helps PBSO ID 1983 drowning victim
