KINGMAN, Ariz. (KTNV) — Mohave County authorities announced on Tuesday that a set of human remains found outside of the Kingman in 1982 have been identified.
On Sept. 9, 1982, citizens traveling through the rural desert near Hackberry Road came across human remains and alerted the Mohave Country Sheriff's Office. Deputies arrived on the scene and recovered the remains, alongside a plastic hair comb, a rusty can opener, rusty fingernail clippers, a toothbrush, a tattered short-sleeve shirt, leather belt fragments, the remnants of denim pants, and an argyle sock.
The remains were transported to the Medical Examiner's Office in Tucson, where an autopsy determined that the victim was a white male, around 55 years old and between 6'1" and 6'2".
Investigators say a cause of death could not be determined, though the victim's death is estimated to have been between 1979 and 1981.
The remains would remain in Mohave County until February 2023, when investigators sent a sample from the victim to Othram Inc., a Texas-based genetic laboratory. There, the remains were finally able to be identified using advanced DNA testing, Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing, and forensic genetic genealogy.
The victim's identity was revealed to be Virgil R. Renner from Humboldt County, California. Investigators say not much is known about Renner at this time, though he is believed to have been born in 1910 and left California in the early 1970s to search for gold in Nevada. However, it is unknown how and why he made his way to Arizona.
It is believed that Renner never married and never had children, though DNA identification was made through distant relatives from his brother and sister's extended families, who are both deceased.
"The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank Othram Inc. once again for their assistance in this investigation," authorities said in a press release. "If not for their help, Renner would have remained another John Doe found in the vast desert of Mohave County."
