GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Skeletal remains which were first found in 2003 in Gwinnett County have been positively identified, officials said Thursday.
The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's office said DNA was used to identify the remains as those of Gordon D. Rexrode.
The remains were originally discovered in a storm basin along Craig Drive in Lawrenceville.
Rexrode is believed to have died sometime in 2002 after being estranged from his family, authorities said.
A missing person report was filed in 1998, but that information was never connected to the remains found in 2003.
In May 2021, the medical examiner's office contacted the DNA Doe Project for assistance in identifying the remains. A sample was then submitted for lab analysis. A profile was uploaded to the public database, GEDmatch.
In November 2021, investigators used the DNA match to identify Rexrode as the likely candidate.
Rexrode was born November 2, 1932, in West Virginia. He had previously lived in Alabama and Georgia. In 2002.
Rexrode disappeared from public records in 2002.
According to their official website, The DNA Doe Project, "is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to identify John and Jane Does and return them to their families."
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