California investigators have utilized new DNA technology to finally identify the identity of a man found in a waterway in 2001.

Authorities announced last week Craig William Ott was the person found in Minor Slough on Ryer Island near Rio Vista in Solano County on March 11, 2001.

After discovering the body, investigators spent the next year trying to identify the person, but ultimately were not successful. 

However, as identification technology advanced over the next 20-plus years, investigators opted to reopen the pursuit of identifying the body in 2023.

This decision was made as part of an initiative called the Doe Cold Case Project, which seeks to use new advancements in science and technology to identify previously unidentified bodies. The project is run by the Solano County Coroner’s Office to re-open and re-investigate cases of people who haven’t been identified in several years. 

Authorities exhumed the body and spent over a year trying to find an identity. Ultimately, new DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy enabled the forensic staff and coroner to identify the body as Ott.

You can read more in an article in the forensicmag web site at: https://tinyurl.com/4w8mee7h.