CLEVELAND — The Ohio Attorney General's Office, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office, and the County Executive announced on Wednesday that forensic DNA evidence has been used to identify a John Doe as a man who has been missing for 45 years.
You can watch the entire news conference below:
According to authorities, Danny Lee Mitchell was 20 years old when he was reported missing from Cleveland on April 2, 1980. He was last seen heading to a bar in the 6300 block of Euclid Avenue and had not been seen since.
The skeletal remains of a John Doe were found on May 17, 1980, close to where Mitchell was reported missing, but at the time, investigators weren't able to identify the man because DNA wasn't something being used to solve cases back then, authorities said.
There were no signs of injury on the man's body, and due to the state of decomposition, nothing at the time positively pointed to the remains belonging to Mitchell. No cause of death was ever identified, and the manner of death was left undetermined, authorities said.
Now, nearly half a century later, DNA evidence has brought answers to the man's family.
Authorities said that closure for the case started in 2017 when Mitchell's family saw a news conference from Twinsburg Police about a John Doe they were trying to identify.
Mitchell's family reached out about that case, believing the model the police department showed resembled Mitchell, but that John Doe was later identified as Frank Little Jr., the guitarist for The O'Jays.
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Mitchell's case was submitted to NamUs, the national database for missing and unidentified persons. Then, in 2020, Cuyahoga County started submitting cold cases to NamUs, which later showed a possible connection to Mitchell and the remains of the John Doe found nearby.
In 2023, a partial profile showed a link between Mitchell's living relatives and the John Doe, but it wasn't 100% conclusive.
Last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received federal funds to investigate further and process unidentified remains. That funding led to a company called Astrea Forensics, based in California, testing hair belonging to John Doe in February of this year.
Those tests led to a DNA profile that authorities said BCI and the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children used to collaborate with a Virginia-based company called Innovative Forensic Investigations. The profile was uploaded to a portal for police and forensic teams to compare DNA findings, which led to Mitchell's identification.
The Attorney General's Office said the results were a long time coming, but the DNA profile now shows that the John Doe was indeed Mitchell.
"Everyone counts, everybody matters – and thanks to forensic advancements, Danny Mitchell’s identity has been restored,” Yost said. “Our team has gone above and beyond to compassionately work this case, reminding everyone that through partnerships, decades-old cases can be solved."
