In July 1980, hikers discovered partial skeletal remains of a man in Flagstaff near some fallen trees in a wooded area near the former Kowboy Kountry Club, long gone.
Investigators estimated the man was dead for more than 20 years, based on the style of his clothes and items found with his body.
His remains showed evidence of a gunshot wound. A rusted revolver was found with his body.
But over the next 46 years, the identity of the man remained a mystery. Investigators dubbed him "Flagstaff Kowboy John Doe."
Now investigators believe they have identified the remains belonging to a 75-year-old man who disappeared in the late 1950s and was born in 1881 to a Mormon family that was originally from the South but had settled in the Idaho Territory.
"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 of the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization that investigated the case. "But we soon found evidence that he disappeared in 1956 and that his family had searched for him to no avail."
The man's real name is not being released. But his identity was shared with relatives; some had searched for their missing grandfather for decades, the DNA Doe Project announced Sept. 28. The man's identity was confirmed through DNA testing and an extensive investigation of newspaper articles, some dating to 19th-century England, and other genealogical evidence, the organization said.
The Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office brought the case to the DNA Doe Project, whose expert investigative genetic genealogists work for free to help law enforcement agencies identify John and Jane Doe cases.
A DNA Doe Project team began work on the case in early 2026, the organization said in a press release. Investigators quickly established the man had deep roots in the South as well as a recent ancestor from England.
Using parish records from the Cornwall region in South West England and 19th-century newspaper articles, investigators zeroed in on the Mormon family that later settled in the Idaho Territory, the organization said.
The man's grandchildren searched for him throughout the 1950s and 1960s, newspaper articles showed, the organization said. Investigators then reached out to surviving family. Additional DNA testing confirmed the identity of the man, bringing some closure to the family.
"After 70 years, they finally have some answers," the organization said.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who was the dead man found in Flagstaff in 1980 with a gunshot wound?
