Human remains discovered 31 years ago south of Indianapolis have been identified as those of a South Carolina man, authorities said.
Relatives of Michael Benjamin Davis said they lost contact with him in the late 1980s, the Johnson County coroner’s office said.
In 1993, children found the remains in a field near Interstate 65 on what is now a golf course in Greenwood, Indiana, according to Othram, a lab that works with police to help with human identification cases.
Othram
The remains were taken to the University of North Texas where Othram said the individual was determined to be a male under 30 years old and between 4’10” and 5’4″ tall.
“Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the man, no matches were found and the case was closed due to a lack of investigative leads,” Othram said.
Decades later, DNA testing and genealogical work helped scientists determine the identity of the remains, the coroner’s office said in a written statement Sunday.
“Although this case has long been suspected to be a homicide, the cause and manner of death remain undetermined unless more information is discovered,” the coroner’s office said.
Davis was born in Richland County, South Carolina, in 1965 and would have been in his 20s at the time of his death, according to Othram.
Davis’ family plans to travel to Indiana to retrieve the remains and speak to the media Thursday, the coroner’s office said.
