Summary

On August 26, 1972, the remains of an unidentified man were discovered in Coos County, Oregon. A teenager peeling chittum bark in the woods approximately 1,000 feet behind Ray's Food Store in Bandon found scattered skeletal remains in a brushy area off U.S. Highway 101, north of the Highway 42 junction. Investigators estimated the man was between 50 and 80 years old, and recovered clothing and personal effects that included denture plates etched with the inscription "S1214/66" or possibly "51214/66." Authorities determined he had been shot twice in the head with a .22 caliber firearm, and the case was treated as a homicide.

Efforts to identify the man, including forensic examination of his remains and investigation into the denture inscription, were unsuccessful. Despite continued investigative work, the case went cold, and he remained unidentified for more than 50 years. The case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP12289.

In 2025, investigators with the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office submitted evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas where scientists worked to develop a DNA extract from the provided evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to construct a comprehensive SNP profile for the man. This profile was used in a forensic genetic genealogy search led by the FBI, which generated new investigative leads in the case.

Using these leads, investigators conducted a follow-up investigation that resulted in the identification of the man as Armes Henry Lahti, born in 1909. Othram's KinSNP® Rapid Relationship Testing was used to confirm the relationship of the man's possible relatives as part of this identification. Armes, a World War II Navy veteran, was an avid fisherman. A man of large stature, Lahti was affectionately known as “Mousy” and his family described him as "a large, gentle man who loved the sea and was proud of his service to his country."

Funding for the advanced DNA testing used in this case was provided by NamUs, a national clearinghouse that assists the criminal justice community with the investigation and resolution of missing, unidentified, and unclaimed persons cases across the United States and its territories. NamUs is funded and administered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and is managed through a contract with Research Triangle Institute International. We are grateful for the support of RTI, NamUs, and the NIJ.

This development represents a significant breakthrough in a case that remained unresolved for more than 50 years, demonstrating the impact of advanced forensic DNA technology in helping investigators resolve long-standing cases.

This is the 4th publicly announced case in the State of Oregon where officials leveraged Othram's identity inference pipeline. Learn more by visiting Othram's website.