CMPD identifies remains of 3 men in cold cases dating back to 1988

The remains of three different people have been identified using DNA technology, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced Tuesday.

Police said the identifications were made with the help of two different nonprofit organizations.

Jose Elder Espinoza

Investigators said on Dec. 24, 2008, they found skeletal remains in the woods near Dixie River Road in Charlotte. Police determined the remains were of a man who was killed.

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Then in November 2019, a now-retired CMPD detective reached out to the DNA Doe Project for help identifying the victim. The project is a nonprofit with a mission of identifying John and Jane Does and returning them to their families.

The nonprofit was able to get a DNA profile together and loaded it into two different databases. Genealogists worked the case until September 2022, when they notified CMPD of a possible victim’s name.

Using DNA, detectives later confirmed the remains belonged to Jose Elder Espinoza. He was reported missing by his family in May 2003.

Police said they’re still investigating the case, and asked anyone with information to call 704-432-TIPS to speak with a detective.

Cody Ray Herrell

CMPD said on June 26, 2021, human remains were found near Trailer Drive, which is by Graham Street and Interstate 85. The victim was a man, and police found no evidence of trauma.

In June 2022, detectives asked for help from the North Carolina Unidentified Project to identify the victim, whose DNA was loaded into a genealogy database.

Detectives collected DNA from a close family member and used that to positively identify the victim as Cody Ray Herrell. They were able to find the family member with help from Leslie Kaufman, a forensic genealogist and the owner of First Genes LLC.

Police said Herrell was originally from South Carolina but was known to live on the streets of Charlotte. His remains have been returned to his family.

Oliver ‘O.D.’ Doc Mundy

Police said they found human remains on Feb. 9, 1988, in an elevator shaft at 237 North Tryon Street, which became the Dunhill Hotel. The building had been abandoned since 1981, but Dunhill Development had purchased it to remodel it.

Over the years, CMPD tried unsuccessfully to identify the victim. Then in June 2022, detectives reached out to the North Carolina Unidentified Project. Using advanced DNA testing, the victim’s DNA was loaded into a genealogy database.

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Leslie Kaufman was able to give detectives a potential victim’s name, so they collected DNA from a close family member. The victim was identified as World War II veteran Oliver Doc Mundy, who his family called “O.D.”

Mundy was from Mooresville but had been known to live on the streets of Charlotte. His remains will be given to his family in Mooresville.

CMPD’s Cold Case Unit is still working to identify at least eight remaining victims and return them to their families. Their discoveries date back to 1975.

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