'Fulton County John Doe' identified 28 years after body found doused in kerosene, set on fire
(DNA Doe Project)
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A man whose identity has been a mystery since his body was found 28 years ago finally has a name thanks to the work of the DNA Doe Project.
Officials with the DNA Doe Project say in 1998, David Brown died after he was doused in kerosene and set on fire blocks away from his Atlanta home.
While Brown had been reported missing by his family, his disappearance remained a mystery for decades.
Things changed in October 2023, when the case was referred to the DNA Doe Project by the head of the Find Our Missing Facebook group.
Working with the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, the project was able to get a sample of the body of what was then known as "Fulton County John Doe" for DNA testing. Volunteer genealogists then spent months on research to try to find his name.
"The lack of records prior to 1870 makes African American genealogical research very challenging," said genetic genealogist Lance Daly. "We discovered an ancestor from the 19th century who was born in Lincoln County, GA, but later died in Atlanta. This led us to hypothesize that our John Doe had deep family ties to Atlanta and may have been born there."
After building the family tree using online DNA databases, the researchers say they found their match: David Brown.
"We are proud to have been able to finally identify him after so many years." said team co-leader Rebecca Somerhalder. "Most of our cases are very complex and we are extremely grateful to those who upload their DNA to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA to assist us in our work."
You can learn more about the nonprofit project here.