Northeast Side man identified through DNA 31 years after body was found in Pickaway County
A Northeast Side man who went missing in late 1988 has been identified as the person whose skeletal remains were found by hunters in a shallow grave in Pickaway County in November 1991.
The Pickaway County Sheriff's office announced Tuesday that family genealogical testing helped identify the remains as belonging to Robert A. Mullins, who had been reported missing between November 1988 and April 1989. He was 21 years old at the time of his disappearance.
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Lt. Johnathan Strawser said Mullins' skeletal remains were found by hunters on Nov. 1, 1991, along a private farm lane off of State Route 56, west of State Route 159.
Initially, the remains were believed to have belonged to a woman due to the stature of the person, believed to be between 5-feet-1 and 5-feet-4 tall.
In 2012, DNA was able to be extracted from the skeletal remains that determined the body belonged to a male, Strawser said. Additional DNA was able to be extracted in 2019 by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
In January 2022, the sheriff's office contracted with AdvanceDNA to do genealogical testing.
Amanda Reno, director of genetic and forensic case management for AdvanceDNA, said a family tree with more than 4,000 members was developed and used to help identify Mullins. The family tree included connections to England and Canada, as well as Virginia and Kentucky, Reno said.
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AdvanceDNA used DNA profiles submitted online through GEDMatch and Family Tree DNA, both of which allow people to upload their DNA profiles to help with developing family trees for genetic genealogy.
Multiple checks were done to verify Mullins' identity after Reno was able to provide it to Strawser on Nov. 1, the 31st anniversary of Mullins' remains being discovered.
Reno said Mullins' family looked for him after his sudden disappearance. Mullins' brother and nephew were in attendance at a press conference Tuesday announcing the discovery of Mullins' identity.
Mullins' death is being investigated as a homicide.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Dave Yost said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is ready to assist the Pickaway County Sheriff's office in whatever ways it needs.
"What a tragedy to die unknown, to not have a name to put on a memorial," Yost said. "Today, that circle closes."
The process of using famlial DNA testing to identify suspects and victims of crimes was made popular through the case of Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, who was identified using the method in 2018 in connection with a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s.
Other local cases that have been solved using family DNA techniques include that of Kelly Ann Prosser, who was killed in 1982 when she was 8 years old.
Anyone with information is asked to call Strawser at 740-474-2176.
bbruner@dispatch.com
@bethany_bruner
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man identified 31 years after body found in Pickaway County
