A forensic tool that catches serial killers identified a backcountry hiker missing for decades

In 2000, a researcher found human remains inside a sleeping bag inside a tent in Olympic National Park. Despite their best efforts, investigators were unable to obtain fingerprints from the badly decomposed body. The unfortunate camper remained unidentified until this month, when authorities announced they had used genetic genealogy techniques better known for solving crimes to identify him as Joseph Luis Serrao Jr.

At the time of discovery of Serrao’s remains, a pathologist estimated that the man had been dead for between six months and four years, and that they belonged to a man between 30 and 50 years old. While investigators recovered Serrao’s gear, the case went cold due to the lack of fingerprints.

Nearly two decades later, officials succeeded. “In 2024, a forensic anthropologist from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office submitted a DNA sample of the deceased to the Texas-based Othrum Laboratory; the victim was identified as Jay,” the National Park Service. said in a release last week. “The testing analyzed a wide range of DNA markers to identify potential relatives and generate investigative leads. By 2025, the laboratory had identified a possible familial connection.”

After taking DNA samples from possible family members, authorities were eventually able to confirm that the remains were those of Serrao.

“This case remained unsolved for nearly 30 years, but investigators never gave up their goal of identifying this man and finding answers for his family,” said Debra Flowers, deputy chief of the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch.

Rather than looking for direct matches, genetic genealogy uses samples in DNA databases to identify potential relatives of a subject. This technique first became widely known when investigators used Identify and arrest former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the Golden State Killer.

Serrao’s last contact with his family was in 1998, 28 years before his diagnosis. Authorities have not publicly released Serrao’s cause of death.