Late 1970’s Cold Cases of Missing People

If you’ve reached this particular post, chances are I’ve sent it to you. I have been working on a project for years that helps publicize mid to late 1970’s (1975-1979) missing person cold cases– particularly male. Why male, you may ask? Well, it all started with me trying to provide tips for an unidentified person, John Doe Delafield. I compiled a database of many men who went missing in the 1970’s who may be a potential match to this unidentified man. I talked to many of their family members and sent them photos of John Doe Delafield. Most of them told me that he was not their loved one. That leaves me with more questions, such as, then where is your loved one?

I’ve been a missing / unidentified person advocate for years. I have taken a focus on the late 1970s cold cases particularly because of the amount of investment I’ve already put in to try to help circulate and “push” John Doe Delafield’s case. (The more these cases are pushed, the more recognition they get. In turn, sometimes the more people will see the cases and provide clues, or law enforcement will be prompted to push the case, too.)

So, my goal is not just to identify John Doe Delafield when dealing with the 1970s cases! (Update: John Doe Delafield has been identified.) I have other goals for this endeavor, which are as follows:
1- To help circulate your loved one’s story. To hopefully provide more information than Namus has.
2- To organize the mishaps in the John Wayne Gacy case. There were several mistakes in this case that had mistakenly linked the wrong people to the deceased bodies; Michael Marino is one example.
3- To guide you to set up familial DNA through Codis and Gedmatch. I’m a forensic genealogist, and I use Gedmatch to help with cases. Having your DNA on Gedmatch is crucial. I recommend testing with Ancestry.com first, and then uploading the raw data to Gedmatch. That’s where I would come in — to help guide you through that process. I would also gladly help you check your DNA matches to see if your missing loved one is on there (if alive) or if maybe he or she has children or grandchildren that have taken a test.
4- To find your loved one. If you suspect your loved one is deceased, please consider uploading your DNA to Gedmatch — not just Codis.
** If you are against using Gedmatch, there are alternatives to compare against unidentified John Does. Where I would come into play is I would try to contact law enforcement to ask them to compare against other cases that we may think could be a potential match. **
6- To find the identity John Doe Delafield AND other 1970s unidentified men. (Update: As updated in another section, JDD has been identified since writing this publication.)