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COOS COUNTY, Oregon (KDRV) — A man whose skeletal remains were found near Highway 101 in 1972 has been identified as Armes Henry Lahti through advanced forensic genetic genealogy.
The remains were discovered on Aug. 26, 1972, in a brushy area off Highway 101 north of the Highway 42 junction. The person was found with upper and lower denture plates and multiple articles of clothing, but none of the items provided any clues to his identity.
According to the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, the case was treated as a homicide due to other evidence at the scene. Investigators tried to identify the person for decades, but leads stalled and testing came back inconclusive.
In 2014, DNA was extracted and sequenced for upload to the Combined DNA Indexing System by the University of North Texas Human Identification Center. There were no matches.
The remains were later submitted for Single Nucleotide Polymorphism profiling and forensic genetic genealogy to several companies using National Institute of Justice grant funding. Those efforts failed due to insufficient DNA.
In 2025, the Coos County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit submitted further evidence to Othram, Inc. The company successfully extracted and sequenced an SNP profile, which indicated the person was of 100 percent Finnish ancestry.
The profile was turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a probable candidate was developed. Family reference testing was completed, and the person has been confirmed as Armes Henry Lahti, who was born in 1909.
“This long‑awaited identification reflects years of dedicated work, collaborative science, and advances in modern genetic genealogy,” said State Forensic Anthropologist Hailey Collord-Stalder. “This outcome would not be possible without the ongoing cooperation among multiple law enforcement agencies, private scientific partners, and volunteers committed to resolving cold cases.”
The Coos County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit is continuing to work the case. Anyone with information is asked to call 541-396-7800 to speak with an investigator.
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