'Fulton County John Doe' identified 28 years after body found doused in kerosene, set on fire

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Nearly three decades after an unidentified man was set on fire in a brutal 1996 attack in southeast Atlanta, officials have confirmed his identity as David Brown, thanks to the efforts of the DNA Doe Project.

Brown was found severely burned after a suspected robbery attempt on Lansing Street. Witnesses reported that Brown, still conscious and severely injured, told bystanders someone had attempted to rob him, doused him in kerosene, and set him ablaze. Though neighbors tried to extinguish the flames and called emergency services, Brown succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. He was so badly burned that authorities couldn’t retrieve fingerprints, and he carried no ID.

At the time, Brown’s family had reported him missing, but when they viewed the body, they couldn’t recognize him due to the extent of his injuries. Thus, the case remained unsolved, and Brown became known as "Fulton County John Doe."

The breakthrough came in October 2023 when the Find Our Missing Facebook group referred Brown’s case to the DNA Doe Project. Working alongside the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, the organization obtained a preserved DNA sample from the unidentified remains, initiating a new investigative process. The nonprofit DNA Doe Project uses investigative genetic genealogy, which employs DNA testing and family tree analysis to identify unidentified remains.

"The lack of records prior to 1870 makes African American genealogical research very challenging," said genetic genealogist Lance Daly, who volunteered on the case. "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."

(DNA Doe Project)

Using online DNA databases like GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, volunteer genealogists painstakingly pieced together family trees over months, eventually linking "Fulton County John Doe" to Brown’s family. A sample from Brown’s relatives confirmed the match, ending years of mystery.

"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."

Somerhalder, who has helped solve numerous cases, noted that this case hit close to home, both emotionally and geographically. "It’s a bittersweet moment…this person died so horrifically, but now this person has his name back," she said. 

The suspect in Brown’s murder remains unidentified.

Somerhalder says they rely on people sharing their data to do this investigative work. "We absolutely rely on people being willing to upload their matches to GEDmatch. If you have your Ancestry DNA done or My Heritage or 23andme you can take your raw data and upload it to GEDmatch. And then you check a box that says 'I opt in for law enforcement to look at my kit' and then we can see those matches to do our work." 

If you want to share your DNA data you can do so at gedmatch.com.

You can learn more about the nonprofit project here.