KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation initiative helped identify a man whose partial skeletal remains were found in Blount County nearly 45 years ago, however, there are still a dozen cases the initiative is looking to solve.
William Thomas “Tommy” Green is the 10th person identified through the TBI’s Unidentified Human Remains Initiative. His remains were found on April 1, 1981 by a group of hunters in the East Miller’s Cove area of Blount County, but National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) records stated that his head, one or more of the limbs, and at least one of the hands was missing.
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Speaking generally, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation explained to 6 News that in cases where a person may have been dead for years, it is not uncommon for only a portion of their remains to be found for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons include natural elements like weather, wildlife activity, and environmental conditions can cause human remains to deteriorate or become scattered.
When Green’s remains were found, it was estimated that he was around 18 to 35 years old when he died, and that his death had occurred around a year before. His name was not known until this month, when Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) testing conducted through Othram Inc, a private laboratory in Texas, helped investigators identify Green’s relatives…