Unidentified murder victim may have ties to Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS — The DNA Doe Project said the victim of a gruesome 1989 murder in Kentucky may have descendants living in Indiana.

The victim remains unidentified, but the organization hopes information gathered from his DNA samples, along with the release of a reconstructed image that shows how he possibly looked, can help investigators at last learn his identity.

The victim — referenced as John Doe — was found in a tobacco barn off State Highway 22 near Williamstown, Kentucky, in 1989. Investigators said the victim had two gunshot wounds to the back of his head and was stripped of all his clothing. His hands were gone — severed from his arms.

With the case long cold, investigators brought the case to DNA Doe Project in 2020. The non-profit organization uses genetic genealogy testing and research to help identify unidentified victims in cold cases.

DNA Doe Project determined this John Doe was most likely from Croatia, Serbia or Romania. He was between the ages of 25 and 35 when he was killed and stood 6’5″ tall and weighed around 220 pounds. John Doe had a crew cut hairstyle with medium brown hair.

The following sketch is a reconstruction of how the DNA Doe Project believes John Doe appeared:

“Somewhere someone has been missing their son, brother or maybe even their father for over 35 years,” said Missy Koski, team leader on the case. “We want to give him his name back and return him to his family.”

The DNA Doe Project said John Doe may have family who lived near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Michigan, and the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. John Doe may have been born abroad, or could be the child of immigrants.

“John Doe’s closest DNA match is an approximate third cousin with recent Croatian and Serbian ancestry,” said Koski. “We need more people who have ancestry from these countries and Eastern Europe to take DNA tests and upload those tests to GEDmatch.com and FamilyTreeDNA.com to help us build his family tree.”

The DNA Doe Project wants to connect with members of the public whose family tree includes the surnames Vignovich, Bogojevic, Nydich, Stanovich, Stoyadinovich, Ljubesavljevic, and/or Damovich. To contact the team, please email case-tips@dnadoeproject.org.