Human Remains Found in 1982 Identified Decades Later as Man Who Left California to Find Gold
Authorities in Arizona confirmed that the remains belonged to Virgil R. Renner
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The remains of a male human found in an Arizona desert in 1982 has now been identified 41 years laterThe remains of a man who was searching for gold in California were discovered 41 years ago in an Arizona desert, authorities said Tuesday.
The Mohave County Sheriff's Office announced in a news release that the victim has been identified as Virgil R. Renner.
According to the sheriff’s office, human remains were discovered on Sept. 9, 1982, in a rural desert around Hackberry Road outside of the Kingman city limits. In addition to the remains, deputies recovered other items from the scene, including a hair comb, a can opener, fingernail clippers, a toothbrush, a tattered short-sleeve shirt and remnants of denim pants.
Authorities said that the remains were taken to the medical examiner’s office in Tucson, where an autopsy determined the victim was a "white male, 55+ years old, between 6’1” and 6’2.”
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The victim’s death, whose cause could not be determined, may have occurred between 1979 and 1981, according to authorities.
In 2020, the remains were transferred to the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office. Attempts to identify the victim were unsuccessful until February 2023, when investigators provided a sample from the victim to Othram Inc., a genetic laboratory in Texas, officials said.
“Using advanced DNA testing, forensic-grade genome sequencing and forensic genetic genealogy, they were able to identify the victim as Virgil R. Renner from Humboldt County, California,” the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities believe Renner was born in 1910 and that he had a brother and sister who have long since died. They added that Renner never married or had children and that the DNA identification was made through distant relatives.
“Information passed down to investigators revealed that Renner left California in the early 1970’s to search for gold in Nevada,” said the sheriff’s office.
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Authorities noted that it is unclear how Renner made his way to Arizona.
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