‘Fulton County John Doe’ identified 28 years after body found doused in kerosene and set on fire

FULTON COUNTY, Georgia. – A man whose identity has remained a mystery since his body was found 28 years ago finally has a name thanks to the work of the DNA Doe Project.

DNA Doe Project officials say that in 1998, David Brown died after dousing him with kerosene and setting fire to blocks away from his home in Atlanta.

Although Brown was reported missing by his family, his disappearance remained a mystery for decades.

The situation changed in October 2023, when the head of the Find Our Missing Facebook group referred the case to the DNA Doe Project.

Working with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, the project was able to obtain a body sample for DNA testing from the man then known as “Fulton County John Doe.” Volunteer genealogists then spent months of research trying to find his name.

“The lack of records prior to 1870 makes genealogical research on African Americans very difficult,” said genetic genealogist Lance Daly. “We discovered an ancestor from the 1800s who was born in Lincoln County, Georgia, but later died in Atlanta. This led us to hypothesize that our John Doe had deep family ties to Atlanta and may have been born there.”

After building a family tree using online DNA databases, scientists say they have found their match: David Brown.

“We are proud that after so many years we finally managed to identify him.” said team co-leader Rebecca Somerhalder. “Most of our cases are very complex and we are extremely grateful to those who submit their DNA to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA to help us with our work.”

You can learn more about the non-profit project Here.