Summary
In March 2008, the partial remains of an unidentified individual were discovered at the base of the Bixby Bridge in California's Big Sur region. The Bixby Bridge is located on California Scenic Highway 1, approximately 18 miles south of Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea. The bridge, built in 1932, is 714 feet in length and noted as one of the tallest single-span concrete bridges in the world. It was determined that the remains were that of an unknown male. Traditional DNA testing was used to develop an STR profile, which was uploaded to CODIS in hopes that there would be a match to a known individual.
Efforts to identify the man were unsuccessful despite the efforts of law enforcement. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP99546. With no matches to a known individual and limited information about the partial remains available, the case went cold and the man’s identity was a mystery for nearly a decade. The man became known as Monterey County John Doe.
In 2022, the Monterey County Cold Case Taskforce, which is comprised of the Monterey County District Attorney's Office, Sheriff-Coroner's Office, Monterey Police Department, and is assisted by the California DOJ Bureau of Forensic Services, teamed with Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man.
Forensic evidence was submitted to Othram’s laboratory, where scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown man. Othram's casework costs for the case were provided by the Roads to Justice (RTJ) program. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team then used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new leads in the case. These new leads were provided to investigators with the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. A reference DNA sample was collected from a relative and tested using KinSNP® Rapid Familial Relationship Testing, which allows investigators to infer kinship in both closely and distantly related individuals. This comparison led investigators to identify Monterey County John Doe as Daniel S. Pyles, who was born in 1938.
Investigators are looking for any information about Daniel Pyles's life up until his remains were found in 2008. Please contact the Monterey County Cold Case Taskforce at 831-759-6647 if you have any information about this or any other Monterey County Cold Case.
With the identification of Daniel S. Pyles, officials have publicly identified more than forty individuals in the State of California using technology developed by Othram. Most recently in Riverside, California, the mother of a Baby Doe was identified and arrested nearly four decades after an infant girl was found dead in a trash dumpster.
Michael Vogen
Director of Case Management
Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.