Students at Ramapo College, New Jersey Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) Center Through DNA testing and genetic genealogy research, was able to uncover the identity of “Beaver Creek John Doe,” now known as Mr. David Emil Jacobsen.
In 2011, the body of a male subject was found near the Beaver Creek hiking area in Yavapai County, Arizona. The decedent did not have a wallet or identification to help identify him, which hampered the investigation. Yavapai County Sheriff's Office investigation. More than 12 years have passed in hopes of a match using NamUs or Cogent automatic fingerprint recognition systems, but neither yielded results that would help identify Beaver Creek John Doe.
Ramapo IGG has partnered with YCSO to provide free case support. John Doe's blood blot card was sent to Intermountain Forensic Medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah, for DNA extraction, whole genome sequencing, and bioinformatics. Intermountain successfully generated SNP profiles and uploaded them to DNA databases GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA.
student of Ramapo College Investigative Genealogy Certificate Program We found that the most likely candidate was David Emil Jacobsen. The discovery of the candidates resulted from a combination of genealogical research and the presence of unique circumstantial details observed by the students.
“The case was difficult because John Doe had recent immigrants on both sides of his family tree,” said Kylen Binder, assistant director of the IGG Center at Ramapo College.
Jacobsen's identity was confirmed by the Yavapai County Coroner's Office through MtDNA comparisons from a DNA sample from one of Jacobsen's brothers. Jacobson died of natural causes due to heart complications.
“The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office appreciates the efforts of Ramapo College and the students' hard work in this effort. We look forward to working with them on other cases in the future.” Yavapai County Sheriff David Rose said.
The Jacobsen family is extremely grateful to everyone who has worked to bring this painful experience to an end.
