Human Remains Near Hoover Dam Identified as Michigan Man Missing Since 1995
It's wild to think that here we are in 2024, using DNA and genealogy databases to solve mysteries that seemed unsolvable at one time.
A missing Michigan man's remains were recently identified thanks to the magic of modern DNA technology. His story starts back in 1995, when he was last seen by his family, living life on the road.
According to CBS News, in 2009 construction workers were working on a project near the Hoover Dam when they stumbled upon some bones and some belongings—a sun-bleached T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and an old green sleeping bag.
For years, the clues that had been found led investigators nowhere. It wasn’t until 2024 that forensic genealogy finally gave this man his name back when he was identified..
William Herman Hietamaki of Michigan's Upper Peninsula was a bit of a free spirit. After high school, he lived life on his own terms, often hitchhiking and exploring the Southwest. Known to his family simply as 'Herman,' he was last seen at his sister's house in New Mexico in 1995.
For nearly 30 years, the family must have thought that he had disappeared and they would never get answers. While there are still many unanswered questions surrounding what actually happened to him, at least there's a bit of closure with the case now.
It's unclear how Hietamaki passed away, but it's believed that it happened between 2006 and 2008.
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