GBI Identifies 1976 Georgia John Doe as Curtis Lee Jones After 50 Years
Skeletal remains found by hunters near the Chattahoochee River in 1976 were finally named after a kinship DNA test matched a relative's sample 49 years later.
Hunters who stumbled across skeletal remains in a remote stretch of Seminole County, Georgia on December 28, 1976, could not have known the man's name would stay unknown for nearly half a century. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced on March 17, 2026, that those remains belong to Curtis Lee Jones, closing a cold case that had gone unsolved since the Ford administration.
The remains were found near the Chattahoochee River outside Donalsonville. Despite a lengthy investigation by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office and the GBI, the man could not be identified and was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as "Seminole County John Doe." Investigators estimated he was a Black man aged 50 or older at the time of death. He was wearing size 32 pants, white boxer-style underwear, a white handkerchief, and one dark sock. The condition of the remains meant cause of death was never determined and remains listed as undetermined.
The breakthrough came in August 2024, when the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Thomasville and the GBI Cold Case Unit submitted forensic evidence to Othram, Inc., a forensic DNA laboratory based in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram scientists developed a DNA extract from the evidence and applied Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile suitable for forensic genetic genealogy. That profile was returned to the GBI Cold Case Unit, which conducted a genealogical search generating new investigative leads.
Those leads narrowed the field to a candidate identity. To confirm it, a reference DNA sample was collected from a potential relative of Curtis Lee Jones and tested against the unknown man's profile using Othram's KinSNP Rapid Relationship Testing. The comparison produced a positive identification. The GBI credited relatives of Jones for their assistance throughout the process.
Jones' family was notified of the identification in February 2026, roughly six weeks before the GBI's public announcement.
The cause of death remains undetermined. No suspects have been named and no criminal charges have been filed. Anyone with information about the case can contact the GBI Cold Case Unit at (404) 239-2106, the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Thomasville, or submit an anonymous tip to the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477).
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