DNA Matches Identify Two Knoxville John Does, Cold Cases Reopened

William Thomas Green and James Robert Benson spent decades in law enforcement records as nameless John Does. On March 19, 2026, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced that both men had finally been identified, their names recovered through forensic genealogical DNA testing after traditional database searches had come up empty.

The path to identification was long and layered. Investigators first partnered with the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center, where experts submitted samples to the University of Texas Center for Human Identification to generate DNA profiles. Those profiles were entered into both CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Neither produced a match.

The breakthrough came when the TBI's Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative worked with local police to submit samples to Othram, a private Texas lab specializing in forensic genealogical DNA testing. The process pairs DNA analysis with traditional genealogical research to locate living relatives. Family members of both men agreed to provide DNA, and Othram confirmed the familial relationships in each case.

The two deaths are unrelated and both date to the 1980s, a period when local investigators were limited to the forensic tools of their time. Identifying the men required, in the TBI's own framing, persistence and taking advantage of technological advances that simply did not exist when the cases were first worked.

Naming the men has not closed either case. Investigators still do not know the full circumstances surrounding either death and are actively seeking information from anyone who may have crossed paths with Green or Benson before they died. Anyone with information about William Thomas Green or the people he may have been with before his death should call the Blount County Sheriff's Office at 865-273-5001. Anonymous tips can be submitted at 865-273-5200. Information about James Robert Benson can be directed to the Knoxville Police Department Homicide Unit at 865-215-7275.

The TBI's Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative is currently working more than 100 cold cases statewide involving unidentified human remains. The nonprofit DNA Doe Project is running parallel efforts in Tennessee, including attempts to identify a woman found in Maury County in 1975, a man found in Hamilton County in 2006, and a woman found in LaVergne in 2007. The organization recently assisted in identifying Earl Joseph Pizzoferrato, whose remains were found in Jefferson County.

"Our name is our birthright. It's our identity. We all think about our impact on this world and what we'll be known for after we're gone," said Cairenn Binder, director of education for the DNA Doe Project. "John and Jane Does deserve that as much as anyone. Their name was the first thing given to them when they were born and they deserve it in death, as well."

Green and Benson now have their names back. Whether investigators can determine who took their lives remains an open question.