Summary

On May 29, 2025, a train conductor walking the tracks was investigating a foul odor when he found a human torso partially buried in a shallow grave. The discovery was made in a wooded area near East 93rd Street in Chicago, Illinois. The Chicago Police Department responded and began an investigation. Investigators believed that the remains belonged to an adult man who had a partial beard with long, dark dreadlocks held in a ponytail.

Police opened a homicide investigation, as they sought to identify the man as well as the circumstances surrounding his death. When conventional forensic methods failed to identify the man, investigators immediately turned to advanced DNA testing at Othram and entered details of the case into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP144839.

In October 2025, the Cook County Medical Examiner submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas where scientists used advanced DNA testing to build a DNA profile for the man, using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®. During the course of the investigation, investigators identified a potential relative of the man. This relative provide a reference DNA sample, which was compared to the DNA profile of the John Doe using KinSNP® Rapid Relationship Testing.

This comparison coupled with the investigative efforts of law enforcement allowed for the positive identification of the man as Chicago resident, Isaiah Terrill Hall. Hall was last seen on April 27, 2025 at around 2:00 am in the 500 block of W. 125 Place in Chicago. Hall's disappearance was reported to the Chicago Police Department, whose investigation into Hall's murder is ongoing.

This is the 12th publicly announced case in the State of Illinois where officials leveraged Othram’s identity inference pipeline. Explore other cases on Othram’s website.