A forensic genetic genealogy services company was finally able to identify the remains found in the Bay Area 22 years ago
NEED TO KNOW
- Authorities said a man’s body was discovered floating in the water under the Coast Guard Island Bridge in 2003
- The man could not be identified and became known as “Oakland John Doe,”
- In 2024, law enforcement submitted evidence to Othram, which later led to the positive identification of Robert Craig Whitsett
The body of a man found floating in the water under a Bay Area bridge 22 years ago has now been identified, authorities said.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said that thanks to DNA testing, the remains discovered in September 2003 were identified as belonging to New York man Robert Craig Whitsett, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Othram, a Texas-based forensic genetic genealogy services company that was involved in Whitsett’s eventual identification, said that his body was found under the Coast Guard Island Bridge, near the 1800 block of Dennison street in Oakland, Calif…