After nearly four decades, a cold case task force has identified human remains discovered in 1985 during the investigation of the Wilseyville serial killings, according to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office. The remains were confirmed to be those of Reginald “Reggie” Frisby, who was born in 1956 in New York state.

Frisby’s remains were uncovered in June 1985 at a crime scene tied to notorious serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. In 2021, the Calaveras Cold Case Task Force launched an effort to reexamine unidentified remains in the county, leveraging advancements in DNA technology and forensic investigative genetic genealogy. “The purpose of the reexamination project was, is, and will continue to be to identify remains while providing closure to victims’ families,” reads a Sheriff’s Office news release. Frisby’s remains had been linked to the killings committed by Ng and Lake in Wilseyville, elsewhere in Calaveras County and in other parts of California in 1984 and 1985. The news release states that the circumstances of Frisby’s death remain under investigation but authorities believe he was a homicide victim. Lake died by suicide while in custody in 1985, while Ng was convicted in 1999 of 11 murders, including those of men, women, a young boy and an infant. The pair were known to have tortured and raped their female victims before killing them. Ng, now 64, was sentenced to death and remains on death row at the California Medical Facility.

The process of identifying Frisby’s remains Investigators reviewed over 1,000 human remains exhumed from a San Andreas crypt, as well as additional remains in the custody of the Calaveras County coroner. A portion of Frisby’s remains, which had been autopsied in 1985, were sent to the California Department of Justice for DNA analysis in 2022.

Although initial testing through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System did not yield a match, further analysis in 2024 by Intermountain Forensics, a private laboratory in Utah, produced a viable DNA profile for use in Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG). This advanced genealogical method, involving comparison with public genealogy databases, led Identifinders International, a genealogy research group, to develop a lead in December 2024. Genealogists and investigators uncovered a possible family connection to Frisby and interviewed relatives, ultimately discovering that he had last been in contact with his family in 1984. Further investigation with the San Francisco Police Department Homicide Unit revealed that Frisby had been living in San Francisco as of January of that year. The California Department of Justice coordinated with the Delaware State Patrol Missing Persons Unit to obtain a DNA sample from Frisby’s mother. The sample was compared with the remains, and the match, along with the investigative facts, confirmed Frisby’s identity. Frisby had never been reported missing and was not initially considered a potential victim of the Wilseyville Serial Killings. The Task Force is now reviewing original reports, evidence and other facts related to the case in pursuit of further answers.

The Task Force credits the identification of Frisby’s remains as the result of extensive collaboration among numerous agencies, including the California Department of Justice, Delaware State Patrol Missing Persons Unit, SFPD Homicide Unit, Identifinders International and Intermountain Forensics. “The Calaveras Cold Case Task Force is funded entirely by donations. Without these donations, the private laboratory and genealogy work would not have been possible, and Reginald would remain unidentified,” the press release states. To date, the task force has spent over $200,000 in donations on reexamining remains from cold cases.