BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) – After more than four decades, Texas-based lab Othram has helped identify another Tennessee cold case victim, this time in Blount County.
The case began in 1981, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, when hunters in the East Miller’s Cove area found a man’s body. At the time, investigators were only able to tell it was a man between the ages of 20 and 35, identifying him as a John Doe.
In 2007, University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center submitted a sample of the remains to the University of Texas Center for Human Identification, TBI said. From there, scientists made a DNA profile and uploaded it into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
No matches were found, until Othram got involved decades later.
“More than four decades later, as part of the TBI Unidentified Human Remains Initiative, TBI agents began working with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office in March 2025 to submit a sample of the remains to Othram, a private laboratory in Texas, for forensic genetic genealogical DNA testing,” TBI representatives said. “Othram Scientists identified potential relatives connected to the man.”
Using the relatives’ DNA, investigators were able to identify the body as William Thomas Green, who was last seen by family members in Knoxville around 1977.
“For almost 45 years, this man’s family had no idea what happened to him, and now they have answers,” said Kristen Mittelman, Chief Development Officer at Othram. “The investigation into the circumstances of his death continues, but for now, friends and family know more than they have for decades because of advanced DNA technology.”
Next, investigators are asking anyone with information about the case to call the Blount County Sheriff’s Office at 865-273-5001 or 865-273-5200.
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