Decades after a fisherman discovered a man dead in the Susquehanna River, the body has finally been identified.
The man has been identified as James Gibson , who had previously been reported missing from Harrisburg , according to a news release form the coroner. The body was found on April 18, 1998, in the Turkey Point area of the River in Manor Township, Lancaster County.
An autopsy was performed days later on April 20, 1998, and the man's cause of death was found to be fresh water drowning.After years of collecting and examining dental records, facial reconstructions, and efforts to source information from the public, the Lancaster County Coroner's Office started working with the DNA Doe Project in September of 2023.
In a news release, the coroner described the DNA Doe Project as "a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping identify unidentified decedents using forensic genealogy." Partnering with the nonprofit, investigators were able to use a single tooth from the man to find a potential candidate -- a man reported missing from Harrisburg in 1998, identified as Gibson."The Coroner’s Office has officially determined that the dental comparisons in conjunction with the genetic profile supports that the male retrieved from the Susquehanna River on April 18, 1998 was 39-year-old James Gibson of Harrisburg, PA," according to a news release.
James Gibson 1998 Harrisburg Coroner DNA Doe Project Dental Records Fresh Water Drowning
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