Wyoming man's remains remain identified 23 years later in forensic discovery

According to a news release from the Weld County Sheriff's Office, on Feb. 14, 2000, a man was walking his dog in a field near E. 8th St. and WCR 43 when he came across human remains. Weld County deputies and investigators responded to the scene and investigated and found no evidence of foul play.

Shortly after the man's discovery, his remains were sent to an anthropologist who determined that he was a white man, between 35 and 50 years old and 5'4″. Body weight The man's condition could not be determined, and he was believed to have a possible tattoo on the center of his back. There was no indication of trauma, and no cause or manner of death could be determined. be determined due to the man's advanced state of decomposition WCSO investigators have named the unidentified man found on Valentine's Day 2000 John Doe 2000.

In 2022, a forensic genetic genealogy was conducted with DNA from the remains of John Doe 2000, leading to relatives in Nevada, who voluntarily submitted their DNA to help solve this case.

In December 2023, Cold Case Detective Byron Kastilahn got the break he was waiting for when the genetic genealogy test results came back, and John Doe 2000 was tentatively identified as Christopher Scott Case. Further genetic testing was conducted to confirm that the remains were indeed those of Christopher Case, and the test results confirmed this.

Before his death, Christopher Scott Case lived in Rock Springs, Wyoming and was last seen by his half-brother in 1998 in Nevada.

“This case was as cold as it gets. There was no evidence other than human remains. Without forensic genetic genealogy, Christopher Case would never have been identified. After discovering forensic genetic genealogy in 2020, I wanted to try to integrate all of our Unidentified Human Remains (UHR) cases into this process. So far we have identified three UHR cases and hopefully they can all be identified eventually,” said Byron Kastilahn, cold case detective with the Weld County Sheriff’s Office.

No matter how much time passes, our commitment to resolving all unresolved cases remains unwavering. In cold cases like Christopher's, we tirelessly pursue investigative leads, employ forensic tools and hope that he is identified, so that his story can be told and his loved ones can find peace in getting the answers. that they deserve.