Summary
In March 1981, skeletal remains belonging to two individuals were found comingled on a property in the Gulf coast community of Weeki Wachee, Florida. While the identity of one individual is known, the identify of the other individual remains a mystery. Investigators determined that the skeletal remains of the unknown decedent belonged to a male subject who had been deceased for up to five years at the time of discovery. No other information regarding the man’s identity was available. The circumstances of the discovery led investigators to believe the unknown man was the victim of Billy Mansfield, a serial killer who is currently incarcerated after being convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to multiple terms of life imprisonment.
In October 2019, the case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP61218. The remains of other individuals discovered at the property have been identified, but with few leads for investigators to pursue, the man’s identity remains a mystery and the case has gone cold.
In 2023, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Othram to assist in identifying the homicide victim. Having worked previous cases together, Hernando County Sheriff's Office and the Othram team are optimistic that advanced DNA testing will help restore this victim's name. Anyone with information that could aid in this investigation is encouraged to contact the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office at 352-754-6830 and reference agency case number 1981-03955.
A DNASolves crowdfund has been established to cover the casework costs. Anyone can contribute here.
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.