32-Year Cold Case Solved: How DNA and Genetic Genealogy Identified Placer County Remains

On July 7, 1994, loggers discovered partial human remains near a campsite at Putt Lake in Placer County. The campsite appeared abandoned for well over a year, and while investigators collected evidence at the scene, they had few leads to work with. Without knowing who the remains belonged to or how they got there, the case stalled. For three decades, those remains sat unidentified in evidence storage while a family somewhere never got answers.

This month, that changed. Researchers at Ramapo College’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center in New Jersey used modern DNA analysis to build a genetic profile from the remains and traced it back to identify George Krusely, a man last seen in California in 1963. Working with police in Ohio, they obtained a DNA sample from a living descendant that matched perfectly. After 32 years, authorities finally knew who had been found at Putt Lake, and a family had closure.

The breakthrough is powerful, but it also highlights a real challenge in criminal investigations: representation gaps in DNA databases. Krusely’s Croatian and Yugoslavian ancestry meant researchers were working with limited data from those populations and sparse genealogy records. The case took significantly longer to solve because of it. Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo credits everyone involved for not giving up and emphasizes that no matter how many years pass, everyone deserves answers. If you or someone you know has a missing person in your life, what would closure look like for your family?