David Clary was 29 years old when he was last seen alive in July 1986.
In August of that year, his skeletal remains were found in the woods in north Georgia, about 6 miles south of Ellijay. But it would take until this year for Clary to finally be identified by DNA, genetics technology and a collaboration between multiple law enforcement agencies, the GBI said this week.
Clary was a homicide victim, an autopsy determined. His killer hasn’t been caught.
“While Clary has been identified, the criminal investigation into his death is ongoing,” the GBI said.
It was a private lab in Texas that helped solve at least part of the Georgia cold case. Othram, located in The Woodlands, Texas, is a lab that works only with law enforcement agencies. The lab’s motto is “Forensics and justice for all.”
In 2023, Othram helped close the case of a lifeless newborn baby found in a University of Georgia dorm in 1996. During the same week, DeKalb County investigators announced that a cold case involving the remains of a woman found in 1993 had been positively identified with help from Othram. The same lab also helped Forsyth County investigators find the mother who left “Baby India” in the woods shortly after birth, the sheriff’s office previously said.
In Clary’s case, the GBI partnered with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and Othram in February 2024 with hopes that the lab’s advanced DNA testing would help.
It led to a break in the case.
“A case like this can be heartbreaking for the victim’s family to go through, but it’s important to know the truth so that law enforcement can take the next steps to figure out what happened,” said Kristen Mittelman, chief development officer for Othram. “You can see by all of the coordination in this case that these cases are important to law enforcement and they are working every day to try to solve them.”
Based on the DNA, a genealogical search by a team that included Othram, the GBI and FBI produced leads that led to Clary’s identification, the GBI said.
Clary grew up in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area but frequently made trips to Metro Atlanta and North Georgia, according to investigators. He was last known to be in Gwinnett County.
On Aug. 9, 1986, hunters found Clary’s remains, according to the GBI. At the scene, investigators found a pair of green or blue pants, a blue webbed belt with a military buckle, a white T-shirt, white or off-white boxer shorts, and brown loafers.
The Gilmer sheriff’s office asked the GBI for assistance in the case, and the state crime lab performed the autopsy on the unidentified man.
“The GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office investigated numerous leads to identify the remains, but to no avail,” the GBI said.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Cleveland at 706-348-4866, the GBI Cold Case Unit at 404-239-2106, or the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office at 706-635-4646. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to the GBI by contacting the tip line at 1-800-597-TIPS(8477) and https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online.
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