News, Yorkshire
HandoutA British man found dead in the United States more than a decade ago has finally been identified thanks to advancements in DNA technology.
Michael Sidney Hill was believed to be visiting a friend in the Phoenix area of Arizona when he died in 2013 aged 75.
He was said to have arrived at his friend’s home with no belongings other than the clothes he was wearing and was carrying no identification.
With US authorities unable to confirm his identity, he was known only as “Maricopa County John Doe 2013” until researchers at Sheffield Hallam University and Ramapo College in New Jersey made a breakthrough using investigative genetic genealogy (IGG).
IGG combines DNA analysis with family history searches to identify distant relatives.
“IGG offers the potential to return names and dignity to unidentified deceased people and closure for families who have missing loved ones,” said Dr Craig Paterson, who led the Sheffield research team.
Dr Paterson said the US had already capitalised on its “significant potential”, perhaps most famously to identify and capture the man known as the Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo.
This was the first time it had been used to trace a UK citizen, he added.
“There’s an incredibly large number of people from the US who are on DNA databases, and there’s an enthusiasm for it that’s above and beyond that in Europe and the UK,” said Dr Paterson.
“Once you get the DNA it allows you to project the distance you can look to try and trace some of the connections and identify who the person is.”
Office of the Medical Examiner Unidentified Persons BureauThe story of Mr Hill’s death has been a subject of interest to internet sleuths amid a wider fascination with the true crime genre in recent years.
His friend in Phoenix was able to provide authorities with a name, but with no known relatives to contact they were unable to identify him.
According to research, Mr Hill was born in Lambeth in 1937 but went missing from public records in the 1950s.
It is not known where he had been living when he died, although a DNA match was found with two first cousins once removed living in Surrey.
His family is believed to have links to London and the surrounding areas.
“Lots of us leave traces as we go through life and certain places and he just didn’t,” said Dr Paterson.
“It did look like he just disappeared.”
Dr Paterson said identifying Mr Hill was “proof” IGG could be used in the UK despite ethical concerns around privacy and data protection law.
“There are lots more unsolved cases in the UK where IGG can be used and we will continue to work with our partners and students to ensure that as many cases as possible benefit from this expertise,” he added.
