Will County coroner partners with Othram to identify skeletal remains

A forensic genealogy company will assist the Will County Coroner’s Office in the identification of a man whose skeletal remains were found nearly 47 years ago in Channahon.

On Monday, Will County Coroner Laurie Summers’ office announced a partnership with Othram to identify the man or his closest relative. The man’s remains were found by hunters in November 1974 in a partially wooded area in Channahon.

Othram is based in Texas and specializes in using “cutting edge laboratory techniques and computational algorithms to extract the most value from DNA evidence,” according to the company’s website.

Investigators believe the unknown man was white, between the ages of 33 and 55 at the time of his death and about 5-foot-10 in height, coroner officials said. He was found wearing a black sweater, size 31 blue jeans and a brown size 9 work boots.

The man had extensive dental work that was likely performed within weeks of his death, coroner officials said.

“Few other details are known about the man and the circumstances of his death,” coroner officials said.

His death possibly could have occurred up to two years before his body was discovered.

An online fundraiser was established through the DNASolves website to cover the cost of testing for the Channahon case. The fundraiser has a $5,000 goal and raised about $132 as of Monday.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the coroner’s office at 815-727-8455. They should refer to the medical exam case number UN 74-01, Will County Sheriff’s Office case number 74-313-03, or NamUs ID UP5212.