After decades of uncertainty, a cold case mystery has reached its denouement with police announcing the identification of remains belonging to a man who went missing in 1988. Central Florida authorities confirmed the remains found in 2009 are indeed those of Ernest Joe Manzanares, as reported by WFTV. The breakthrough, a testament to the persistence of both law enforcement and advances in forensic technology, brings a grim end to Ocoee’s oldest missing person case.
The story behind Manzanares’s disappearance is as disturbing as the years of uncertainty that followed. At a press conference, investigators said he had tried to stop an alleged plan by family members to sell his sister and niece to a motorcycle gang. Malcolm Draper of the Clermont Police Department and retired detective Michelle Grogan of the Ocoee Police Department outlined the allegations. Authorities described a case marked by alleged betrayal and criminal conspiracy, details they said emerged through years of investigation. According to an interview given to WESH, Manzanares’s mother said that her son had set out to confront his father and uncle over this planned atrocity, but he never returned.
Officials detailed that the man, originally from Colorado, went missing shortly after the confrontation, and despite the discovery of his remains over a decade ago, it wasn’t until recent technological advances were made that they could positively identify him. The use of DNA genealogy through Othram, a company that, according to its website, “combines laboratory science, software, and process to build a better and more robust infrastructure for justice,” facilitated the identification of Manzanares’s remains, effectively closing the case that had remained open for nearly forty years, as reported by WESH…