A man found dead in Chatham County more than 40 years ago is now believed to be identified, thanks to a statewide program that uses genetic testing.

A release from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday said a case from February 1981, where an unnamed body was found in Pittsboro, has advanced thanks to DNA sequencing and research by the NC Unidentified Project. The initiative, founded in 2020, aims to raise funding for assistance on unidentified person cases and to provide means for genetic analysis and extraction.

Early investigation into the 1981 case was challenged by little information or basic clues, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. But the NC Unidentified Project now believes the body is that of Alexander “Alex” Brown, Jr., a man reported missing from Baltimore, MD, in December 1978. Expert medical examination confirmed the identity as well.

Alexander “Alex” Brown Jr. (Photo via the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office/The Brown Family.)

The local sheriff’s office said Leslie Kaufman, who is a forensic genealogist and co-founder of the NC Unidentified Project, revealed the name to investigators and drew quite a response.

“The excitement in the room was palpable,” Lieutenant Sara Pack of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office said in the release. “It was incredible to finally have a fresh lead after hitting so many dead ends. Hearing [Kaufman] announce his name was an emotional moment for all of us, especially as we imagined Brown’s family and the prospect of providing them with some semblance of closure after forty-three years.”

Tuesday’s release said that Brown, Jr. is now the fifth victim to be positively identified by the NC Unidentified Project so far. There are eight more sponsored cases the initiative is trying to identify.

“I have worked on criminal cases all over the country,” Kaufman said, “but cases involving unidentified bodies really speak to my heart. These men and women deserve to have their names known and their stories told…that’s what drives me to do what I do.”

The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office said now that Brown’s body is identified, the investigation hopes to pick up steam.

“Identifying the victim has given us a new launch point and fresh leads to follow,” said Chatham County Sheriff Mike Roberson. “We are endlessly grateful for all of the hard work and partnerships that led to this amazing revelation. We are hopeful that such technology will lead to similar breakthroughs in other unsolved cases.”

The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office is now asking other members of the public to partner in the search for answers surrounding Brown’s disappearance and untimely death. Anyone with information about this decades-old case, including Brown’s disappearance or murder, is asked to call the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office at 919-542-2911.

 

Photo via WNCT.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

 

Related Stories
‹
Astronauts Answer CHCCS Students Questions From Space to Help Promote STEM
Some Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools students taped questions and heard live responses from the International Space Station on Wednesday.
Nobel Win for Swede Who Unlocked Secrets of Neanderthal DNA
Written by DAVID KEYTON, FRANK JORDANS and LAURA UNGAR Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for his discoveries on human evolution that provided key insights into our immune system and what makes us unique compared with our extinct cousins, the award’s panel said. Paabo spearheaded the development of new techniques […]
Europe Launches a Drive To Attract Scientists and Researchers After Trump Freezes US Funding
The European Union launched a drive to attract American scientists and researchers to Europe with offers of grants and new policy plans.
When RFK Jr. Was Presented With the Science on Vaccines He Said He Needed To See, He Dismissed It
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent insisted to senators that he’s not anti-vaccine. But he repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus.
AI Is Having Its Nobel Moment. Do Scientists Need the Tech Industry To Sustain It?
The tech industry has now made it easier for AI scientists to pursue their ideas even as it has challenged them with new ethical questions.
Gene Therapy May Cure Rare Diseases. But Drugmakers Have Few Incentives, Leaving Families Desperate
There’s little commercial incentive to develop or bring to market one-time therapies to fix faulty genes or replace them with healthy ones.
Orange County Sheriff's Office Identifies Murder Victim in 33-Year-Old Cold Case
In September 1990, a road crew was working along Interstate 40 in Orange County when its workers spotted something near the eastbound New Hope Church Road exit: a human body. The victim, a woman, went unidentified despite local law enforcement’s efforts across three decades. Now, however, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office says it knows the […]
Fight To Curb Food Waste Increasingly Turns to Science
Written by DEE-ANN DURBIN Hate mealy apples and soggy french fries? Science can help. Restaurants, grocers, farmers and food companies are increasingly turning to chemistry and physics to tackle the problem of food waste. Some are testing spray-on peels or chemically-enhanced sachets that can slow the ripening process in fruit. Others are developing digital sensors […]
NC Governor Signs Bills Addressing Sexual Assaults, Alcohol
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed 11 bills on his desk into law Thursday, including legislation that addresses sexual assault, domestic violence and alcohol sales. The signed bills were among more than three dozen that the General Assembly sent Cooper in the last two days of its work session, which ended […]
Body in Pittsboro Identified After 41 Years; Investigation Ongoing
A man found dead in Chatham County more than 40 years ago is now believed to be identified, thanks to a statewide program that uses genetic testing. A release from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday said a case from February 1981, where an unnamed body was found in Pittsboro, has advanced thanks to […]
›