Summary
In July 2020, two hunters preparing for the fall season on their leased land in Ashland, Kentucky came upon a shallow grave. They found a young man, mostly skeletonized, lying face-down. Toxicology reports revealed that the young man had likely ingested drugs close to the time of his death. The PMI was estimated at 2 weeks to a month and the cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound. It was not clear to investigators if the man, also known as EastPark John Doe, was murdered elsewhere and brought to the grave postmortem, or if he was killed where his body was found.
EastPark is an industrial development center in Boyd County, Kentucky, about one mile from I-64 and across from the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery North East. There is a small road near where EastPark John Doe was found, leading to a secluded lot where locals go for tailgate parties and truckers seek sleep before heading back to the highway.
Law enforcement worked diligently to identify the young man but eventually all leads were exhausted. Traditional forensic DNA testing also did not reveal an identity for the young man, either. The case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP73223.
In 2021, the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office and Kentucky State Police sent forensic evidence to Othram in the The Woodlands, Texas. The costs associated with forensic DNA testing and research for this case were generously funded through a DNASolves® crowdfund. We are grateful to everyone that provided the support necessary to work this case.
Othram scientists developed a DNA extract from the evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the murdered young man. Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the DNA profile in a genetic genealogy search to identify genetic relatives of the young man and to produce investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement investigators.
With leads in hand, the Kentucky State Police continued the investigation. Discussions with family and follow up DNA testing enabled investigators to confirm the identity of the young man as Zachary Taylor Pearson, born February 26, 1997. Pearson was originally from Saint Albans, West Virginia and he had no known association to Kentucky. His body was found about 50 miles from Saint Albans.
Investigators are now working to identify the person or persons responsible for Pearson's murder. If you have information that could aid this investigation, please contact Detective David Boarman at the Kentucky State Police Post 14 at +1 606-928-6421. The police agency case number for this case is 14-20-0358.
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.