Man found dead 18 years ago in Arizona. Now genetic family tree helps identify him
_fitted.png "Using genetic genealogy, a nonprofit has helped identify a man who was found dead in Arizona 18 years ago.")
Nearly two decades ago, a man was found dead in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and with few clues to identify him, his case quickly went cold.
The man, who was believed to have fallen from a tall building, was found “in the area of Central Avenue and West Monroe Street” on Oct. 19, 2004, according to a news release from the nonprofit DNA Doe Project. The man was between 40 and 60 years old with blue eyes, gray hair and was missing many teeth.
One of the few clues investigators had to help identify the man was the surgical implant in his right ankle, the nonprofit said. However, after they could not trace the implant, the case went cold.
That is, until a handful of DNA Doe Project summer apprentices took up the case.
By tracing the man’s genetic family tree, DNA Doe Project’s inaugural summer apprentices helped identify the man as Frank R. Beck, the nonprofit said.
“Thanks to our excellent relationship with Phoenix Police Department and the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office, we were able to restore the name of this former John Doe and advance the field of investigative genetic genealogy by using this case for an education initiative,” Cairenn Binder, the nonprofit’s director of education and development, said in an Oct. 20 release.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office brought the case to the nonprofit earlier this year “to use investigative genetic genealogy to determine his identity by researching his genetic family tree,” the release said.
Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine “the levels and types of biological relationships between or among individuals.”
By working with lead volunteers, eight “apprentice genetic genealogists” with the nonprofit took up the task of using genetic genealogy to identify Downtown Phoenix John Doe, the release said.
While working on the man’s family tree, Nadine Ashcroft, one of the apprentices, said the team noticed “one of his parents had recent Scottish ancestry whilst the other had significant German ancestry,” according to the release.
“By following potential patterns of X-DNA inheritance, we focused in on a particular family group,” said Ashcroft. “It’s incredible, that moment when you realize the relevant family has been identified.”
The team was able to trace the genetic family tree to Beck, the release said. Beck, who was 57 at the time of his death, experienced homelessness later in life and “had lived in Arizona since the 1990s,” the release said.
“It has been so rewarding to see all of the pieces of the puzzle come together,” Cynthia Gabbard, a member of the team, said in the release. “Every match that we added to the tree helped come to the final result. I’m so honored to be a part of this team that has given this man his identity back.”
This is not the first case the nonprofit has worked on in Arizona, according to the release. The nonprofit has “partnered with local agencies on 15 cases,” of which four are in active research, four have been solved, and the others “are in various stages of the lab and research pipeline.”
DNA Doe Project, founded in 2017, uses “ investigative genetic genealogy to identify John and Jane Doe unidentified remains,” according to the nonprofit’s website.
This story was originally published October 24, 2022 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Man found dead 18 years ago in Arizona. Now genetic family tree helps identify him."
