After 29 years, Hillsborough John Doe (1995) is identified

Summary

In April 1995, the skeletal remains of an unidentified person were discovered by fishermen near the northwest corner of Bearss Avenue and I-275 in Tampa, Florida. Tampa is located in Hillsborough County. Officers from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene and determined that the remains were those of a man. The man’s age was estimated to be 56 to 65 years old and his height was approximately 5’6″. It was determined that the man had died of natural causes.

In June 2007, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP191. Forensic sketches showing the man’s image were created and released to the public in the hopes that they would provide clues to the man’s identity. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the man, no matches were found and the case was closed due to a lack of investigative leads. He became known as “Bob.” In the summer of 2023, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit teamed up with Othram to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Hillsborough County Coroner’s Office, submitted forensic evidence to Othram’s lab in The Woodlands, Texas, in July 2023. Thanks to a collaboration with the Hillsborough County Coroner’s Office, testing at Othram was funded by a federal grant. Othram’s scientists were able to develop a DNA extract from the evidence provided and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to create a comprehensive DNA profile of the man. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new investigative leads that were forwarded to law enforcement.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted that led investigators to possible relatives of the man. Reference DNA samples were taken from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Christopher “Charlie” Mammana, born in 1918.

During the course of the investigation, investigators discovered a headstone belonging to Mammana in Easton Cemetery in Easton, Pennsylvania. However, there was no record of him being buried in that grave. As investigators began following leads and locating members of the Mammana family to further piece together the victim’s family tree, they learned that Christopher Mammana had moved to the Tampa, Florida area after the death of his wife Connie in the early 1990s. Christopher’s whereabouts and digital traces disappeared in 1993, and he was not heard from again after his move to Florida.

The identification of Christopher “Charlie” Mammana is the 34th case in the state of Florida in which officials have publicly identified a person using technology developed by Othram. The most recent identification was in Jupiter, Florida, of John Lee Peppard, whose remains were discovered in a wooded area near I-95. The case was confirmed 36 years later.