Summary

In April 1980, two men were fatally shot at the Siesta Motel on 34th street in St. Petersburg, Florida. The St. Petersburg Police Department responded, launching an investigation and collecting evidence. Both men had been shot in the head. Although one of the victims was identified as a man named Jack Roy Davis, the other victim could not be identified. During the investigation, a man and woman from Knoxville, Tennessee were identified as suspects. Before the two could be arrested, the man, Kyle Watson, was shot and killed by his girlfriend, David Ann Thomas, upon their return to Tennessee. Thomas was later convicted for driving the getaway car in the St. Petersburg double murder, and she served time in prison. She has since died.

Detectives interviewed witnesses and circulated an artist's rendering of the unidentified man as well as a photo of the Italian horn pendant he wore. Despite an extensive investigation, the second victim could not be identified and became known as St. Petersburg John Doe. The case went cold and details were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP1305. The man's body was exhumed in 2010 in an attempt to identify him, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

Years later, in 2022, the St. Petersburg Police Department submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the victim. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the provided evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the victim. Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the victim. Reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified victim using Othram's KinSNP® testing. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be 29-year-old Johnny Bradshaw, born October 8, 1950. Bradshaw, who was 29 at the time of his death, was from Tennessee. Bradshaw has two living sisters who have searching for him since his disappearance in 1980.

The casework costs associated with Othram's testing and investigative research were contributed by Project Justice and law enforcement directly. We are grateful for this funding which allowed us to assist law enforcement in working this case, leading to Cochran’s identification.

This is the 54th publicly announced case in the State of Florida where officials leveraged Othram’s identity inference pipeline. Explore other cases on Othram’s website.