Authorities have announced that the human bones discovered in the chimney of a music store in Wisconsin in 1989 have been identified as belonging to a man who had last been in contact with his relatives in 1970.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization utilizing genealogy to identify unidentified individuals, revealed that the discovered bones belong to Ronnie Joe Kirk, who hailed from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The authorities made multiple attempts to identify the remains of the individual, referring to them as “Chimney Doe.”
In late 2018, Detective Lindsey Ludden from the Madison Police took the initiative to bring this case to the DNA Doe Project. To further investigate, hair samples from the skull were sent to Astrea Forensics, a specialized California-based DNA sequencing company that excels in handling degraded samples.
Gwen Knapp, a member of the DNA Doe Project, revealed that it took over two years to create a DNA profile that could be used for genetic genealogy research. This breakthrough ultimately led to the identification of the bones as belonging to Kirk. Kirk, who was born in 1942, had an adoption history, was married twice, and had three children.
According to Knapp, “This case is incredibly unique due to the complexities of adoption and multiple generations of different marriages, even though there was a relatively close DNA match within the family. We are thrilled to be able to restore Ronnie Kirk’s name and hope that his family can find some closure after his long absence.”
According to Madison police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer, Kirk’s most recent known communication with his family was in 1970, when he divorced his second wife in Missouri. Fryer mentioned that Kirk has children from both his first and second marriages, who are now in their 50s. Interestingly, these children had no knowledge of each other’s existence until investigators reached out to them.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes stated that Kirk’s family has requested privacy during this time. No further details about Kirk’s relatives were provided, except for a statement expressing their relief in finally discovering what had happened to him.
