PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A man who died days after being found unconscious on a downtown Phoenix sidewalk two decades ago has finally been identified, thanks to a New Jersey school’s work in investigative genetic genealogy.
On Aug. 9, 2004, a man was found alive but unconscious on a sidewalk at 3rd Avenue and Madison Street. He was not carrying identification and died at a hospital eight days later. Online records show his cause of death was determined to be heat exposure.
Phoenix police tried to identify the man through fingerprints and DNA, but there were no matches, and his John Doe identity remained a mystery for 20 years. Then, last September, the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner contacted the Ramapo College Investigative Genetic Geology (IGG) Center in Mahwah, New Jersey, which agreed to take the case…