DNA Doe Project solves two cases of unidentified bodies in Austin
AUSTIN, Texas - Two cases of unidentified remains found in Austin are now solved thanks to DNA technology.
The DNA Doe Project announced the identification of "Slaughter Creek Jane Doe," who was found on April 12, 2020, and "Travis County John Doe," who was found on March 10, 2021.
Austin Police say the decedent in the 2020 case is Sherry Brock, and in the 2021 case, the decedent is Leon Curtis. Neither had foul play suspected.
Matthew Waterfield, who lives in England, was the team leader on the Travis County John Doe case. He got involved with the DNA Doe Project as a university student. The nonprofit has about 90 volunteers around the world.
"I feel very lucky to be involved. It's very rewarding to be part of, and even though you aren't always the answers that the families are hoping to hear, there are at least answers," he said.
DNA Doe Project looks to identify the yet-unidentified
There are more than 50,000 unidentified sets of human remains in the U.S. In this "Missing in Texas," FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen takes a look at the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit dedicated to identifying the numerous John and Jane Does across the country.
The DNA Doe Project worked with the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office on these two cases. They say, often in cases, agencies will reach out to them for additional help. The Project gets funding through donations, and they use different labs for DNA testing.
Genealogists compare DNA profiles to two systems called "GEDmatch" and "Family Tree DNA," using matches to build family trees.
"We can see all the people who share the DNA with them. We tend to focus on the people who share the most DNA with them. Maybe a second, third, or fourth cousin, and we build back their family trees in time," Waterfield said.
For Travis County John Doe, genealogists found a woman born in North Carolina in the 1850s as a likely ancestor.
"We built down her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so forth, until finally we found this man who had actually moved to Austin. We couldn't find any proof that he was alive after March 2021," Waterfield said.
Slaughter Creek Jane Doe was a bit more complicated because the highest DNA match was an adoptee. Genealogists made a family tree using more distant DNA matches, which led them to ancestors in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.
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"The team were able to find a woman who connected to all of those families in all of those states. They found that for her, there was no proof that she had been alive since 2020," Waterfield said.
Austin Police say Curtis' cause of death was ruled atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease with the manner of death being natural.
Brock's cause and manner of death were ruled undetermined.
Another Austin-area case needs donations for lab work.
"Redbud Trail John Doe" was found hanging from a tree on May 27, 1998.
"It's fantastic that we've been able to resolve two Austin-area cases," Waterfield said. "I hope that we can work on many more Texan cases in the future, because there are a lot more people in Austin and in Texas more widely who still don't have their names back."
If you've taken a DNA test before, uploading it to Family Tree DNA or GEDmatch could help solve another case. Genealogists can use it for comparison for other unidentified people.
"They may be the crucial match that allows us to resolve this case and reunite that individual with that name and that family," Waterfield said.
For more information on the DNA Doe Project, click here.
The Source: Information in this report comes from reporting by FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen.