Skeletal remains found near Interstate 75 in 1978 identified as Lonny Reeves

A half-century cold case finally cracked when skeletal remains pulled from a wooded strip near Interstate 75 in Lake City, Florida, in 1978 were identified as Lonny Reeves, a hitchhiker and drifter whose family had spent decades waiting for an answer.

Columbia County officials said the remains were found on Nov. 24, 1978, near the westbound side of Interstate 75, later described as just west of the Interstate 10 westbound rest area near the interchange. Investigators found the bones scattered and partially buried under soil and pine needles, with a small piece of clothing nearby. A composite sketch was released, but no one matched it, and the case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as UP6246.

For years, investigators worked the file with every tool they had. They tried facial reconstruction, mitochondrial DNA testing, CODIS submissions, dental record checks and later genealogy work. In February 2024, Sgt. Richard Conger was assigned to the case and located the missing skull at the District Four Medical Examiner’s Office in Jacksonville, a find that helped reopen a file that had gone cold for decades.

The breakthrough came on Jan. 5, 2026, when a private forensic lab identified genetic relatives. A family member who had not seen Reeves since 1970 then provided the DNA sample that confirmed the match. Reeves was born on Nov. 21, 1943, and investigators said skeletal analysis showed he was a white man, about 5-foot-9, between 35 and 45 years old, and right-handed. He also had arthritis and a healed heel fracture, signs of a physically demanding life.

Linda Reeves said the family had kept hoping they would find him alive or dead, and described her brother as a “true cowboy.” She said the family last saw him on a beach in New Jersey. Columbia County Sheriff Wallace Kitchings said the office was sorry the family had waited so long and said the identification let Reeves “have his name back.”

Investigators said there were no signs of trauma to the bones or skull and no indication of foul play. The death appeared to be from natural causes, not homicide. Even so, the case matters far beyond one name: it shows how old evidence, missing fragments and obsolete records can still yield answers when modern genealogy and persistence are brought back to the table. Othram said the identification marked its 59th publicly announced Florida case solved through its identity-inference pipeline.