INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — After nearly 40 years, an unknown man buried in a Minnesota cemetery has been identified.
The gravestone in Prairie Oaks Memorial Eco Gardens in Inver Grove Heights reads “Unknown Male / 1985 / In God’s Loving Care”.
The man was the first person ever buried in the cemetery, which was known then as Inver Hills Memorial Cemetery.
In 2017, the BCA contacted the cemetery’s owner, Jon Weber, about reopening the investigation.
“We opened the vault, pulled the casket,” Weber said. “He left, then when he came back, he was reinterred.”
DNA samples pulled from the body went to a nonprofit this year called the DNA Doe Project.
Their volunteer genealogists have identified more than 130 unknown human remains.
“We got very lucky with this case,” said Sara Hoffman, one of the DNA Doe Project team members. “We had a fairly close DNA match. I believe it was a second or third cousin.”
Hoffman says that match helped build a family tree.