Police in Arizona have identified remains found near the historic Hoover Dam as those of a man who was last seen nearly 30 years ago.
William Herman Hietamaki, of Michigan, was last seen by his siblings in 1995, when he was traveling to visit his sister in New Mexico.
Hietamaki was known to live a nomadic lifestyle according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office and had fallen off the radar after visiting family.
Then, 14 years later, construction workers pouring cement near the Hoover Dam in 2009 managed to discover his remains, which have now been officially identified.
Workers observed what appeared to be a bone on the ground and, after a survey of the area, found additional bones that they concluded were human.
William Herman Hietamaki, of Michigan, was last seen by his siblings in 1995 when he was traveling to visit his sister in New Mexico.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said the two men contacted local authorities, who searched for more bones.
Officers also found a pair of sun-faded blue jeans, a damaged white towel, a sun-faded red T-shirt, a black athletic shoe and a green sleeping bag.
The items were turned over to the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office, and detectives attempted to generate leads about the mysterious remains to no avail.
In February 2022, a sheriff’s detective sent a bone sample to the Arizona Department of Public Safety for examination.
Another was also sent to the University of North Texas who managed to extract a DNA sample.
Despite the positive finding, all attempts to identify Hietamaki had negative results.
It wasn’t until April of this year that the company Othram, a genetics laboratory in Texas, was able to create a DNA profile that was uploaded to a genealogy database.
In October, investigators were informed that the remains were descendants of ancestors born in the mid-19th century who resided in Michigan.
Officers then began interviewing possible relatives, when they discovered that Hietamaki’s brothers told them his story.
This Oct. 2, 2012, file photo shows the Hoover Dam and the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge from the helipad in Boulder City, Nevada.
Subsequent tests carried out on his relatives concluded that the remains were those of Hietamaki.
Due to the condition of his remains, the medical examiner’s office has not been able to determine the cause of death. They estimated that he died between 2006 and 2008.
He was born on April 4, 1950 and resided in Trout Creek, Michigan, and after graduating from mechanical school he began traveling.
Hietamaki was known to suffer from epileptic seizures and also hitchhike to various places.
A search of public records showed that he had at one time resided in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In a statement, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said, “We would like to thank Othram Inc. for their work on this case and for obtaining funding to allow the forensic genetic genealogy investigation to be completed.” Hietamaki’s family now has closure due to their dedication to identifying John and Jane Does.
