Genetic genealogy helped confirm the remains belonged to Mitchell John Pauli, who disappeared from the Buckeye area in the late 1970s.
BUCKEYE, AZ — Human remains discovered in a remote Arizona park in 1982 have been identified as those of Mitchell John Pauli, a teenager believed to have disappeared at about age 14, ending a mystery that lasted more than four decades.
The DNA Doe Project announced the identification Oct. 6 after working with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office on the long-unsolved case. Pauli, who was born in St. Louis in 1964, was last known to be living in Buckeye. His family had moved to the Arizona community in 1967, and researchers found that they lived only about five miles from where the remains were eventually discovered. Additional DNA testing confirmed Pauli’s identity after genetic genealogy researchers developed him as a possible match.
The remains were found April 22, 1982, when Air Force personnel were searching for a fallen gun pod in a remote section of White Tank Mountain Regional Park outside Phoenix. They discovered a skull and vertebrae belonging to a young person. No clothing or personal belongings were found with the remains. Forensic examinations at the time indicated the unidentified person was male, between 13 and 19 years old and had probably died one to three years before the discovery.
For decades, investigators knew him only as John Maricopa County Doe. The case remained under the jurisdiction of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office as advances in DNA testing and genetic genealogy created new options for identifying people whose names had been lost. The medical examiner’s office later brought the case to the DNA Doe Project with support from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which funded laboratory work and a database upload fee.
The DNA Doe Project began genealogical research on the case in May 2026. Researchers found that the unidentified teenager appeared to have ancestry connected to Germany, along with more recent family ties in Missouri and Kentucky. As investigators studied DNA matches and family histories, those connections increasingly pointed toward St. Louis. The nonprofit said its volunteer researchers reached a major lead after about seven days of genealogical work.
Team leader Megan Pasika said researchers found a boy born in St. Louis in 1964 for whom they could locate no later proof of life. The investigation became more significant when researchers established that the boy’s family had moved to Buckeye in 1967. Pauli’s family lived about five miles from the location where the unidentified remains were recovered years later, according to the DNA Doe Project.
Researchers then compared Pauli’s family tree with genealogical information developed from DNA associated with the unidentified remains. The project said it found multiple connections between Pauli’s ancestors and DNA matches linked to the John Doe case. Investigators presented Pauli to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office as a candidate, and further DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to him.
Pauli is believed to have disappeared in the late 1970s, when he was around 14. The available public information does not establish exactly when he disappeared or when he died. Authorities originally estimated the teenager whose remains were found in 1982 had been dead for one to three years. The circumstances surrounding Pauli’s disappearance also remain unclear from the information released about the identification.
The identification resolves the question of who the teenager was, but significant questions about his death remain unanswered publicly. The announcement did not disclose a cause or manner of death, and no finding about how Pauli died has been released. The case is listed as identified by the DNA Doe Project, with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office remaining the agency of jurisdiction.
Author note: Last updated October 9, 2026.