Cold case solved: Body found in Rosemount ID'd as missing NY man, James Everett
ROSEMOUNT, Minn. - Authorities in Rosemount announced Wednesday that the cold case of a body found in 2014 has been solved.
In a morning press conference, Rosemount police and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said that DNA science and law enforcement partnerships helped bring closure to the family of a missing man.
The medical examiner identified the body as James Everett, who was 48 years old at the time of his death. He was from Cohocton, New York and went missing in the fall of 2013.
"It's been a long time coming," Police Chief Mike Dahlstrom said. "This is really a result of the investigators with the medical examiner's office working hand-in-hand with the investigators of the Rosemount Police Department."
Partially skeletonized remains were recovered from a railroad switching shed on Sept. 29, 2014. Police believe Everett had been living in the shed, which was located near the intersection of 146th Street and Burnley Avenue West.
There were no identification documents on the body or in the area. The medical examiner completed a full forensic analysis and dental charts, then entered the man's DNA into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in 2015.
Following a couple more years of investigation, Everett's body was buried in Inver Grove Heights in June 2017 as an unidentified male. His property and DNA samples were retained in hopes it would be useful with advances in DNA and fingerprint technology.
Solving the case
A break in the case came when Everett's DNA profile was uploaded to an open-sourced DNA database used for genealogy purposes, the medical examiner's office said.
In September 2019, the first potential relatives for the then-unknown man were identified. However, information failed to identify a presumptive identification and the case once again stalled.
Then, at the beginning of this year, the FBI referred the investigative task force to another group, the DNA Doe Project. The group soon identified another potential relative on the maternal family tree.
Everett was named as a potential lead in March. After receiving a DNA sample from Everett's father, the body was confirmed as Everett.
"This case was solved because a distant family member was researching their genealogy. Open-sourced DNA and forensic genealogy could help others get similar closure, too," Shawn Wilson, the department administrator for the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office, said.
"Opportunity for closure"
James Everett's wife, Patricia Everett, says her husband was an intelligent man, computer geek and sports fan.
"We, especially me, never gave up searching. We were always on the lookout for him when out and about and frequently did a lot of online searching for any indication of activity or other clues as to his whereabouts." Everett said. "Although this has not been the expected nor desired outcome in our search for him, we are all grateful and blessed to at least have this opportunity for closure, which many are not as fortunate to get."
Patricia Everett says she hopes the solved case gives hope to those with a missing loved one.
For more on the case, including a detailed timeline, click here.