Gaston County Police identify man in 1979 homicide using DNA technology

Kevin Ellis, The Gaston Gazette
·2 min read
James Harold Smith went missing in June 1979. His body was found in October 1979. Gaston County Police announced Dec. 1, 2021, he had been identified using a DNA profile.
James Harold Smith went missing in June 1979. His body was found in October 1979. Gaston County Police announced Dec. 1, 2021, he had been identified using a DNA profile.

A man found dead in Gaston County more than four decades ago has finally been identified. Gaston County Police are labeling the death of James Harold Smith a homicide.

Smith, who was 33 at the time of his disappearance, was last seen by his family in June 1979 leaving a Mecklenburg County court hearing, according to a missing person's report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

On Oct. 6, 1979, Gaston County Police Department responded to a call of a body found in a wooded area off of Horseshoe Bend Beach Road in the northeastern portion of Gaston County.

At the time, police only knew the man had been placed in the area for some time before he was found and that he was believed to be between the ages of 30 to 60 years.

There was no identification on the body and police had no way to identify him at the time, according to Gaston County Police.

Gaston County Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit reviewed the case in 2020. Detectives worked with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System to process DNA from the skeletal remains that were collected in 1979.

The national missing person's organization utilized the Florida Institute of Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science at the University of South Florida to create a DNA profile and artist rendition of the victim.

The Gaston County Police, with the assistance of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, were able to identify Smith through the DNA profile, according to a Gaston County Police press release on Wednesday.

Image created to search for James Harold Smith, a 1979 homicide victim, just identified by Gaston County Police.
Image created to search for James Harold Smith, a 1979 homicide victim, just identified by Gaston County Police.

Detectives spoke with Smith’s family and determined he was of Lumbee Indian descent. Gaston County Police detectives discovered the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department had taken a missing person’s report in 2014 for Smith.

Gaston County Police declined to disclose a cause of death in the case.

Gaston County Police are requesting the public’s help with this investigation. Anyone with information surrounding the disappearance/homicide of Smith is encouraged to call Gaston County Police Detective B. Dalton at 704-866-3320 or Crimestoppers at 704-861-8000.

A monetary reward of up to $1,000 is available to anyone who provides information leading to the identification and arrest of the suspect(s) in this case.

You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or email him at kellis@gastongazette.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County Police use DNA to identify man in 1979 homicide