Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Teams with Othram to Identify a 2009 John Doe

Summary

In November 2009, two workers contracted to pour cement on the Highway 93 widening project near the Hoover Dam took a break at Milepost 3 in Kingman, Arizona. While standing on the west side of the highway, one of them observed what appeared to be a bone. The two men then canvassed the area and located additional bones, concluding that they were human. They immediately notified their supervisor, who then contacted National Park Service Agents. A Kingman Police Department Officer on traffic detail at the site notified the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). An initial search of the area led to the discovery of additional human remains along with a sun-bleached red tee shirt and pair of blue jeans, a damaged white towel, a black athletic shoe, and a green sleeping bag. A second search conducted a few days later resulted in the collection of additional remains. All items were provided to the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office.

It was determined that the remains were that of an adult male, likely between the ages of 40 and 55. The man was estimated to be 5’10” in height. It is believed that the man died several years prior to the discovery of his remains. Detectives continued the investigation over the years in an attempt to generate leads with no results. The man became known as Mohave County John Doe. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP7248.

In 2022, skeletal evidence belonging to John Doe was submitted to the Arizona DPS lab so that an STR profile could be developed for upload into CODIS to try to identify the unknown person. In addition, a sample was sent to the University of North Texas, where an extracted DNA sample was obtained and stored for analysis and identification purposes. All attempts to identify John Doe were met with negative results and the man’s identity remained a mystery.

Two years later in 2024, in their continued efforts to identify the man, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas in hopes that John Doe could finally be identified through advanced DNA testing. Othram scientists successfully built a comprehensive DNA profile for the man using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®. This profile was then used in a genetic genealogy search. Othram’s forensic genetic genealogist uncovered new leads in the case, which were provided to law enforcement.

In October 2024, Mohave County Sheriff’s Office investigators received a report that included possible relatives of the man. A follow-up investigation began in which possible relatives of John Doe were interviewed. In doing so, investigators learned that William “Herman” Hietamaki had not been seen by family since 1995. Hietamaki had been traveling in the southwest area of the United States. A reference DNA sample was collected from a relative for comparison to John Doe’s DNA profile. This investigation concluded that Mohave County John Doe unidentified remains were, in fact, William “Herman” Hietamaki, who was born on April 4, 1950.

Herman and his family resided in the Trout Creek, Michigan area. He attended high school in Michigan and upon graduation, he attended mechanic’s school. Some time after high school he left Michigan and started traveling. He was known to hitchhike to various locations and lived a nomadic lifestyle.

Herman was last seen by his family when he went to visit his sister in New Mexico in 1995. A search of public records showed that at one time he resided in Las Vegas, Nevada. While Herman suffered from epileptic seizures, the Medical Examiner’s Office was unable to determine his cause of death due to the state of his remains. They estimated the year of his death to have been between 2006-2008.

Funding for the advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy used in this case was provided by law enforcement with the remaining funds 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 (RTI). Othram is grateful for the support of RTI, NamUs, and the NIJ.

William “Herman” Hietamaki's identification represents the ninth case in the State of Arizona where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. To read about other cases in Arizona that have been solved, visit DNASolves.