The DNA Doe Project has identified "Geneseo John Doe" as Ronald Joe Cole, a 19‑year‑old missing from Fillmore, California, in 1965 whose remains were found in Illinois in 1966. A 2024 referral produced second‑ to third‑cousin matches on GEDmatch that allowed volunteer genealogists to trace Cole’s family and confirm the identification. Cole’s half‑brother, David LaFever, had long been suspected in the case but was never charged. The case highlights the power of modern investigative genetic genealogy to bring closure to decades‑old cold cases.
Forensic Genealogy Solves 60‑Year Mystery: Geneseo John Doe Identified As Ronald Joe Cole
Ronald Cole (DNA Doe Project)
Modern forensic genealogy has solved a six‑decade mystery: remains long known as "Geneseo John Doe" have been identified as Ronald Joe Cole, a 19‑year‑old who vanished from Fillmore, California, in 1965 and whose remains were recovered in Illinois in 1966.
How The Case Was Solved
In 2024 the Henry County Sheriff’s Office referred the cold case to the DNA Doe Project (DDP), a volunteer‑driven nonprofit that uses investigative genetic genealogy to identify John and Jane Does. DDP volunteers generated a DNA profile from the recovered remains and uploaded it to GEDmatch, which produced multiple matches in the second‑ to third‑cousin range. Those matches—unusually strong on both maternal and paternal lines—gave genealogists the leads they needed to reconstruct family trees and locate likely relatives.
“We are very grateful for the relatives who chose to upload their DNA results to GEDmatch,” said DDP team leader Gwen Knapp. “Unusually, our team had good matches on both the father’s side and the mother’s side to work with.”
Background And Forensic Findings
A postman discovered a human skull near a creek southeast of Geneseo on October 27, 1966. The FBI concluded that a bullet hole at the base of the skull was the cause of death and estimated the man had died one to five years earlier. Subsequent searches recovered additional skeletal remains; investigators at the time estimated the victim was a male between roughly 16 and 30 years old.
Identification And Family Links
Within days of genealogical research, the DDP team located records and family information pointing to Ronald Joe Cole. Follow‑up DNA testing confirmed the Geneseo remains were Cole, who had been reported missing from Fillmore, California, after last being seen in 1965 at age 19.
Suspicions And Cold‑Case Context
Records show Cole had been living with his half‑brother, David LaFever, at the time of his disappearance. LaFever and his wife, Margaret, were later arrested on unrelated charges in 1983. Investigators learned LaFever had at one point confessed to killing his brother; police also named him a prime suspect in the 1984 discovery of Margaret LaFever’s brother’s body—found in a shallow grave near the LaFevers’ former home after that man went missing in 1977. Despite these suspicions, LaFever was never formally charged in either case.
About The DNA Doe Project
The DNA Doe Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit staffed largely by volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who provide their services pro bono to law enforcement and families. The organization depends on donations to pay laboratory and operational costs and has helped resolve more than 150 cases of unidentified human remains to date.
Why This Matters
This identification brings long‑sought answers to a family and community and underscores how modern genetic genealogy can resolve cold cases that were unsolvable with the forensic tools available decades ago.
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