WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:01.800 I want you to imagine, just for a second, that 2 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:06.809 you are walking through the really, the rugged, incredibly remote 3 00:00:06.910 --> 00:00:08.029 wilderness of Montana. 4 00:00:08.230 --> 00:00:11.050 Oh, yeah. That is a serious landscape. Right. 5 00:00:11.070 --> 00:00:13.990 Like, picture the West Fork Ranger District. It's out in 6 00:00:14.029 --> 00:00:17.429 the Bitterroot National Forest. And honestly, the scale of this 7 00:00:17.469 --> 00:00:19.539 place is almost impossible to wrap your head around if 8 00:00:19.579 --> 00:00:20.739 you haven't physically been there. 9 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:24.980 It really is. Yeah. I mean, we are talking about 1.6 10 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:29.480 million acres. Yeah. Just vast land. Quiet terrain. 11 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:33.579 Exactly. Yeah. 1.6 million acres. The pine trees just seem 12 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:34.700 to go on forever, right? 13 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:35.020 Yeah. 14 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:38.340 They create this dense canopy that basically filters out the sun. 15 00:00:38.539 --> 00:00:41.140 It's beautiful, but it's very isolating. 16 00:00:41.299 --> 00:00:44.479 Very isolating. So you are navigating the Flat Creek Trail. 17 00:00:44.539 --> 00:00:47.740 You're miles away from any major highway, surrounded by nothing 18 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:51.479 but like the ambient sounds of nature. And then completely 19 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:54.460 out of nowhere, you trip over a 19-year-old secret. 20 00:00:54.829 --> 00:00:57.609 Yeah, that jarring contrast, it just cannot be overstated. I mean, 21 00:00:57.630 --> 00:01:02.490 you were in this pristine, seemingly untouched ecosystem, and suddenly 22 00:01:02.509 --> 00:01:05.450 you were confronted with this stark reminder of human mortality. 23 00:01:05.569 --> 00:01:08.170 Just a mystery left right there in the dirt. So, 24 00:01:08.370 --> 00:01:11.349 today's deep dive is focusing on a very specific case 25 00:01:11.409 --> 00:01:15.469 from our sources. We are looking at the 2007 Bitterroot 26 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:16.370 Forest John Doe. 27 00:01:16.730 --> 00:01:19.060 And this is such a fascinating case to dig into. 28 00:01:19.189 --> 00:01:23.469 It really is. It's a single, decades-old cold case. But 29 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:26.849 it serves as this perfect lens to examine a massive 30 00:01:26.890 --> 00:01:29.810 collision that's happening right now in the investigative world. 31 00:01:29.950 --> 00:01:33.329 Right. Because we have this unforgiving reality of outdoor mysteries. Yeah. 32 00:01:33.489 --> 00:01:38.510 And they are slamming headfirst into cutting edge private DNA technology. 33 00:01:38.829 --> 00:01:41.310 And then, you know, perhaps the most surprising element of 34 00:01:41.329 --> 00:01:44.409 all this, the power of public crowdfunding actually stepping in 35 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:45.079 to foot the bill. 36 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:46.609 Which is just wild to think about. 37 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:49.980 It's totally wild. For this deep dive, we're pulling directly 38 00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:53.019 from a really comprehensive publication. It was put out on 39 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.870 June 1st, 2026 by Dan Miller. 40 00:01:56.230 --> 00:01:57.730 He's the director of customer service at Othram. 41 00:01:57.750 --> 00:02:01.150 Yes, exactly. Dan Miller at Othram. And his publication details 42 00:02:01.170 --> 00:02:04.810 this incredible collaborative effort between the Missoula County Sheriff's Office 43 00:02:04.849 --> 00:02:08.060 and Othram to finally identify these remains that were found 44 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.740 way back in 2007. 45 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:13.680 It completely dismantles the traditional narrative we have about, you know, 46 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:15.490 How cold cases are solved. 47 00:02:15.569 --> 00:02:17.729 Right, because you might think you know how this works, 48 00:02:17.889 --> 00:02:20.050 but the landscape has completely shifted. 49 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:23.889 Totally. The expectation is usually this linear progression, right? Like 50 00:02:24.330 --> 00:02:27.569 an investigator finds a physical clue, that clue points to 51 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:29.919 a witness, and then the witness provides a name. 52 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:30.780 A straight line. 53 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:34.639 Exactly. But when someone vanishes into the sheer immensity of 54 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:38.340 the American wilderness, that linear trail of breadcrumbs, It doesn't 55 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:41.509 just go cold. I mean, it is completely obliterated by 56 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:42.030 the elements. 57 00:02:42.270 --> 00:02:44.229 So to solve a case like that, it requires a 58 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:48.669 complete paradigm shift, both in science and, well, economics. 59 00:02:48.729 --> 00:02:50.569 Yeah, the money side of it is huge. 60 00:02:51.050 --> 00:02:53.919 So let's get into the physical reality of what actually 61 00:02:53.979 --> 00:02:57.199 happened on that trail before we even touch the high-tech solutions. 62 00:02:57.259 --> 00:03:00.000 Right, we have to understand the mystery before we explore 63 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:00.460 the cure. 64 00:03:00.620 --> 00:03:04.590 Exactly. So the date was May 11, 2007. A group 65 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:08.250 of hikers were out navigating the terrain of Ravalli County, Montana. 66 00:03:08.370 --> 00:03:11.050 And this is southwest of a small community called Connor, right? 67 00:03:11.189 --> 00:03:14.650 Yep, Connor, Montana. They were off a road in this 68 00:03:14.770 --> 00:03:19.849 extremely remote West Fork area, and that is where they 69 00:03:19.889 --> 00:03:21.650 discovered the skeletal remains. 70 00:03:22.129 --> 00:03:25.310 You know, the specific geography of that discovery, it changes 71 00:03:25.349 --> 00:03:28.689 the entire investigative approach. How so? Well, the remains were 72 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:33.030 found near camping equipment. And that is a massive divergence 73 00:03:33.129 --> 00:03:36.879 from the typical ways unidentified remains are discovered in rural areas. 74 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.479 Right, because usually, like, if someone is found off a 75 00:03:39.539 --> 00:03:42.560 rural road, there's a vehicle involved somewhere. 76 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:45.280 Precisely, yeah. A vehicle is an anchor to the bureaucratic world. 77 00:03:45.659 --> 00:03:48.419 It has a license plate, a VIN stamped on the dashboard, 78 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:51.330 a registration sitting in the glove box. 79 00:03:51.569 --> 00:03:52.789 It ties them to society. 80 00:03:53.090 --> 00:03:55.750 Exactly. Even an abandoned car links directly back to our 81 00:03:55.770 --> 00:03:59.469 modern infrastructure. But finding a skeletal structure just sitting next 82 00:03:59.509 --> 00:04:03.490 to a scattered campsite That implies a profound level of isolation. 83 00:04:03.669 --> 00:04:05.909 Yeah, they were completely separated from that infrastructure. 84 00:04:06.009 --> 00:04:08.050 Right. This person was out there attempting to exist in 85 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:11.330 the elements, completely detached from all the systems that normally 86 00:04:11.389 --> 00:04:12.229 track our movements. 87 00:04:12.669 --> 00:04:14.969 It really makes me think about those hikers on that 88 00:04:15.030 --> 00:04:19.560 May afternoon. I mean, like walking through a museum of 89 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.980 natural history, you know, taking in the untouched geology and 90 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:24.060 the ancient forests. 91 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:24.699 Oh, for sure. 92 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:27.139 But then suddenly you stumble over an artifact of the 93 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:30.519 modern world that just doesn't belong there. A piece of 94 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:32.639 a human story that abruptly ended. 95 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:37.209 And that abrupt end, it triggers a highly complex logistical 96 00:04:37.269 --> 00:04:38.509 response from the authorities. 97 00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:40.870 Yeah, the jurisdictional stuff here is fascinating. 98 00:04:41.050 --> 00:04:43.889 It is. Because when a discovery like this happens in 99 00:04:43.930 --> 00:04:47.870 a national forest, you are instantly dealing with this tangled 100 00:04:47.939 --> 00:04:51.399 jurisdictional web. The land itself is federal, so it's overseen 101 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:52.720 by the West Fork Ranger District. 102 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:53.019 Right. 103 00:04:53.420 --> 00:04:56.740 And their personnel, they know the topography, the access roads, 104 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:02.009 the seasonal trail conditions, but... A death investigation. That falls 105 00:05:02.050 --> 00:05:04.050 under the authority of the local county sheriff. 106 00:05:04.290 --> 00:05:07.149 So in this instance, that's the Revali County Sheriff's Office. 107 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:10.949 Exactly. With Sheriff Chris Hoffman initially leading the charge and 108 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:12.100 issuing the news releases. 109 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:15.079 So they had to merge their operations immediately, right? Just 110 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:15.959 to secure the scene. 111 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:21.480 Yeah. It demands this immediate, seamless joint operation. You have 112 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:26.189 federal forestry experts and local law enforcement trying to preserve 113 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:30.910 a scene that nature has already, well, Severely compromised. 114 00:05:30.930 --> 00:05:32.269 No, because it's been out there for a while. 115 00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:36.149 Right. They have to meticulously document the placement of every 116 00:05:36.189 --> 00:05:39.310 single bone, every piece of fabric. And then they have 117 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:42.569 to coordinate the physical transport of those remains out of 118 00:05:42.610 --> 00:05:45.509 this remote forest all the way to the state crime 119 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:46.290 lab in Missoula. 120 00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:49.209 Which our source says they actually managed to do that 121 00:05:49.290 --> 00:05:50.290 very same evening. 122 00:05:50.350 --> 00:05:53.680 Which is incredibly impressive logistics for that terrain. 123 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.560 Definitely. But, you know, there is a detail in the 124 00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:59.199 timeline that initially had me completely confused. 125 00:05:59.259 --> 00:05:59.740 What's that? 126 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:04.600 Well, the hikers found him on May 11, 2007. Now, 127 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:06.759 if this person was out there living in a tent 128 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:10.079 trying to camp, why did it take until May for 129 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:11.569 someone to stumble across the site? 130 00:06:11.649 --> 00:06:12.569 That's a great question. 131 00:06:12.730 --> 00:06:14.730 I mean, May doesn't really sound like the dead of winter, 132 00:06:14.990 --> 00:06:17.750 but it also doesn't sound like peak summer hiking season, 133 00:06:18.009 --> 00:06:18.870 you know? Right. 134 00:06:19.230 --> 00:06:23.250 Well, forensic anthropologists and medical examiners, they look at the 135 00:06:23.269 --> 00:06:26.500 state of skeletal remains. They factor in things like insect 136 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:30.029 activity or the lack of it and weather patterns just 137 00:06:30.069 --> 00:06:33.370 to establish a post-mortem interval. And they estimated this man 138 00:06:33.410 --> 00:06:36.290 had died several months prior to his discovery in May. 139 00:06:36.870 --> 00:06:40.170 Several months prior. So we are talking about late 2006 140 00:06:40.170 --> 00:06:42.209 or maybe very early 2007. 141 00:06:42.209 --> 00:06:45.740 Exactly. Which places his death squarely in the middle of 142 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:47.100 a brutal Montana winter. 143 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:48.379 Oh, wow. Yeah. 144 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:52.560 A winter in the Bitterroot National Forest is entirely unforgiving. 145 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:56.319 We are talking about heavy snowfall. that measures in feet, 146 00:06:56.509 --> 00:06:58.529 not inches, sub-zero temperatures. 147 00:06:58.589 --> 00:07:00.110 Just totally impassable. 148 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:03.509 Right. The roads and trails become completely impassable for the 149 00:07:03.589 --> 00:07:06.209 average person. So the reason it took until May for 150 00:07:06.250 --> 00:07:08.709 him to be found is that the environment itself entombed him. 151 00:07:08.829 --> 00:07:10.449 The snow basically buried the site. 152 00:07:10.610 --> 00:07:14.569 Yes. The freezing temperatures halted the typical decomposition process, and 153 00:07:14.610 --> 00:07:18.319 that heavy snowpack hid the site entirely. It wasn't until 154 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:21.579 the seasonal spring thaw finally melted that snowpack that the 155 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.180 area became accessible to those early season hikers. 156 00:07:24.629 --> 00:07:27.370 He was just frozen in time, basically waiting for the 157 00:07:27.509 --> 00:07:31.470 earth to tilt back toward the sun. That is a 158 00:07:31.529 --> 00:07:32.790 deeply haunting visual. 159 00:07:32.889 --> 00:07:33.449 It really is. 160 00:07:33.550 --> 00:07:35.949 And it brings us to the overwhelming hurdle the medical 161 00:07:35.990 --> 00:07:39.269 examiner in Missoula faced. Once they finally got those remains 162 00:07:39.370 --> 00:07:42.250 onto a stainless steel table in the crime lab, they 163 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:45.160 had to start trying to reconstruct an identity from a 164 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:47.259 body that nature had already reclaimed. 165 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:49.819 And this is where the physical reality of the elements 166 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:52.240 actively fights against the forensic process. 167 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:53.970 Because they didn't have much to go on. 168 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:56.860 No, the parameters they were able to establish were just 169 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.279 tragically broad. 170 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.670 Right. Like the demographic basics were limited to an estimation. 171 00:08:02.069 --> 00:08:04.990 They determined the victim was a white man. But the 172 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:08.649 age range they provided, it was anywhere from 35 to 173 00:08:08.649 --> 00:08:10.589 60 years old at the time of his death. 174 00:08:11.110 --> 00:08:13.949 Think about the biological markers used to determine age, though. 175 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:18.339 In younger individuals, forensic anthropologists can look at epiphyseal union. 176 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:19.779 Epiphyseal union. 177 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:22.560 Yeah, it's basically how the ends of our bones fuse 178 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:25.290 to the shafts as we grow up. But in adults 179 00:08:25.310 --> 00:08:28.990 who are between 35 and 60, those bones are fully fused. 180 00:08:29.889 --> 00:08:32.570 So you are forced to look at degenerative changes instead. 181 00:08:33.429 --> 00:08:36.240 Wear and tear on the joints, changes in the pubic symphysis, 182 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:39.919 dental wear. But when remains have been subjected to the 183 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.269 extreme freeze-thaw cycle of a Montana winter... The bones themselves 184 00:08:44.330 --> 00:08:46.230 can weather, crack, and degrade. 185 00:08:46.409 --> 00:08:48.840 So it erases the wear and tear they'd normally look for. 186 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:52.759 Exactly. It makes those subtle degenerative markers incredibly difficult to 187 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:56.139 read with any precision. Hence, you get a massive 25-year 188 00:08:56.220 --> 00:08:57.039 age gap. 189 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:59.399 25 years is a huge window. And it wasn't just 190 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:02.370 his age, right? His height was estimated to be between 191 00:09:02.570 --> 00:09:05.649 5'5 and 5'11. That's a full 6-inch variance. 192 00:09:05.950 --> 00:09:09.730 Yeah, and height estimation usually relies on measuring intact long bones, 193 00:09:10.529 --> 00:09:13.539 primarily the femur or the tibia. You run those measurements 194 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:15.320 through mathematical regression formulas. 195 00:09:15.379 --> 00:09:17.059 But if they are broken or damaged. 196 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:19.789 Right. If those long bones are fragmented, weathered, or if 197 00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:22.789 the articulation of the joints is completely lost to decomposition, 198 00:09:23.149 --> 00:09:25.250 you just lose the ability to give an exact number. 199 00:09:25.289 --> 00:09:26.450 You're just guessing at that point. 200 00:09:26.870 --> 00:09:30.000 Pretty much. You are left with a massive moment of error. 201 00:09:30.379 --> 00:09:32.299 I mean, a six inch variance is the difference between 202 00:09:32.340 --> 00:09:35.259 a relatively short man and an above average height man. 203 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:38.820 It is the ultimate erasure of physical identity. Nature just 204 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:43.169 wiped the slate clean. But nature didn't erase the synthetic 205 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:44.279 materials he brought with him? 206 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:45.159 No, it didn't. 207 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:47.220 And this is the aspect of the case that is 208 00:09:47.259 --> 00:09:51.559 so hard to shake for me. We have this list 209 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.409 of personal items recovered right there with the remains. 210 00:09:54.610 --> 00:09:56.450 The clothing tells a really specific story. 211 00:09:56.649 --> 00:09:59.970 Yeah, let's look at the list. A blue-black medium zip-up jacket. 212 00:10:00.750 --> 00:10:04.659 windbreaker-style pants with a black elastic waistband, and then a 213 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:07.159 turquoise glacier's edge sleeping bag. 214 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:10.080 It tells a story of acute vulnerability. 215 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:11.320 How do you mean? 216 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:13.240 Well, if we recall that he died in the dead 217 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:17.169 of winter, a medium zip-up jacket and windbreaker pants, are 218 00:10:17.269 --> 00:10:21.159 categorically insufficient for survival in the Bitterroot Mountains. Those are 219 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:25.659 light layers meant for like an auto breeze, not subzero exposure. 220 00:10:26.220 --> 00:10:30.129 It suggests someone who was either deeply unprepared for the 221 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:33.929 environment they walked into or someone who found themselves trapped 222 00:10:33.970 --> 00:10:36.429 out there without the means to secure proper gear. 223 00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:39.789 Wow. Yeah. The turquoise sleeping bag is the detail I 224 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:41.220 keep circling back to, though. 225 00:10:41.340 --> 00:10:42.139 It stands out. 226 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:46.379 It really does. It's such a vivid, hyper-specific item in 227 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:49.379 a case that is otherwise just a massive gray area. 228 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:49.700 Yeah. 229 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.480 Like with a 25-year age gap, you don't have much 230 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.919 to go on. But a bright turquoise sleeping bag. 231 00:10:55.980 --> 00:10:57.399 You'd expect someone to recognize it. 232 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:00.470 Exactly. You would think a detail like that usually cracks 233 00:11:00.509 --> 00:11:03.049 a case wide open. You broadcast that on the evening news. 234 00:11:03.429 --> 00:11:05.909 And you expect a clerk at a sporting goods store 235 00:11:06.029 --> 00:11:08.049 or a friend or a family member to call in 236 00:11:08.070 --> 00:11:09.490 and say, hey, I know who owned that. 237 00:11:10.110 --> 00:11:13.590 Right. But the expectation of a witness coming forward assumes 238 00:11:13.629 --> 00:11:16.110 that the victim was actually tethered to a social network. 239 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:17.309 Ah, I see. 240 00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:21.210 Physical clues in a vast transient space, they frequently lead 241 00:11:21.250 --> 00:11:23.889 to dead ends because the isolation of the forest often 242 00:11:23.929 --> 00:11:25.929 mirrors the social isolation of the individual. 243 00:11:26.070 --> 00:11:26.970 That makes a lot of sense. 244 00:11:27.389 --> 00:11:31.169 Yeah. And a turquoise sleeping bag is mass-produced. There are 245 00:11:31.210 --> 00:11:35.190 likely thousands of them in circulation. Furthermore, someone who perishes 246 00:11:35.269 --> 00:11:38.100 alone in a freezing forest camp may have been living 247 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.659 a highly transient lifestyle. They may have been estranged from 248 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.799 the very family members who would otherwise recognize their belongings 249 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:46.620 on a local news broadcast. 250 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:50.470 So the physical clues require a social connection to actually 251 00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:51.370 mean anything. 252 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:52.009 Precisely. 253 00:11:52.250 --> 00:11:55.370 And without a witness to bridge that gap, a turquoise 254 00:11:55.389 --> 00:11:58.370 sleeping bag is just synthetic fabric in the dirt. 255 00:11:58.830 --> 00:12:01.710 And this strips the individual down to the barest, most 256 00:12:01.789 --> 00:12:05.490 dehumanizing level of bureaucracy. He really does. Because without a name, 257 00:12:05.809 --> 00:12:08.549 without a family member to claim him, his entire life, 258 00:12:08.710 --> 00:12:11.509 whatever choices led him to that mountain, is reduced to 259 00:12:11.570 --> 00:12:12.970 strings of database numbers. 260 00:12:13.330 --> 00:12:16.049 Yeah, he was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified 261 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:18.750 Person System. We know that as NAMUS. He was entered 262 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:20.149 as UP7458. 263 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:21.279 Just a code. 264 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:23.879 Yeah, and the state crime lab assigned him the medical 265 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:29.409 examiner case number 070511. Those numbers became his entire existence 266 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:30.409 in the eyes of the system. 267 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:34.269 A placeholder identity, basically. Just waiting for science to catch 268 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:34.929 up to the mystery. 269 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:38.600 And wait, he did. We are looking at a 19-year 270 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:43.299 wait here. For nearly two decades, the physical evidence, the windbreakers, 271 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:47.059 the sleeping bag, the scattered remains, they all just sat 272 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:48.320 in an evidence locker. 273 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:50.200 The trail hit an absolute wall. 274 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:53.309 A brick wall. But the passage of those 19 years 275 00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:56.789 is exactly what allowed the technology to evolve into the 276 00:12:56.889 --> 00:12:58.870 savior of this case desperately needed. 277 00:12:59.129 --> 00:13:02.610 It's incredible. The stagnation of the physical evidence is a 278 00:13:02.690 --> 00:13:06.690 stark contrast to the aggressive acceleration of genomic science during 279 00:13:06.710 --> 00:13:07.769 those same 19 years. 280 00:13:07.990 --> 00:13:10.879 Right. So let's fast forward to 2026. The Missoula County 281 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:14.379 Sheriff's Office is still trying to figure out who UP 282 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:17.360 7458 is. And they decide to partner with a private 283 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:20.759 laboratory called Offram, which is based down in the woodlands, Texas. 284 00:13:21.049 --> 00:13:22.509 Othram has been doing some amazing work. 285 00:13:22.570 --> 00:13:25.269 They really have. Now, Othram was founded in 2018, so 286 00:13:25.289 --> 00:13:28.730 the specific technology they're utilizing literally did not even exist 287 00:13:28.789 --> 00:13:31.200 when this man was found frozen in the woods back 288 00:13:31.409 --> 00:13:31.940 in 2007. 289 00:13:31.940 --> 00:13:35.279 To really appreciate the leap in capability here, we have 290 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:37.740 to look at what investigators were working with back in 2007. 291 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:40.620 Okay, set the scene for us. What did they have? 292 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.600 Well, law enforcement relied almost entirely on databases like CODIS. 293 00:13:45.210 --> 00:13:47.169 That's the Combined DNA Index System. 294 00:13:47.370 --> 00:13:49.669 Right, you hear about CODIS on TV all the time. Exactly. 295 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:53.970 Exactly. Now, CODIS looks at short tandem repeats, or STRs. 296 00:13:54.470 --> 00:13:57.580 Think of STRs as these small, repeating chunks of DNA. 297 00:13:58.419 --> 00:14:02.460 The FBI requires a standard set of 20 core, loci, 298 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:05.580 or specific locations on a chromosome to make a match. 299 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:09.149 So it's basically checking 20 specific boxes to see if 300 00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:10.210 they line up with someone. 301 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:13.950 Yes. But there are two massive flaws with STR testing 302 00:14:13.970 --> 00:14:16.649 when it comes to cold cases. First, it requires the 303 00:14:16.750 --> 00:14:19.070 unknown DNA to match a profile that is already in 304 00:14:19.090 --> 00:14:19.970 the criminal database. 305 00:14:20.190 --> 00:14:23.049 So if our John Doe never committed a felony, he 306 00:14:23.129 --> 00:14:24.149 isn't in CODIS at all. 307 00:14:24.289 --> 00:14:28.070 Exactly. He's invisible to the system. The second, and honestly 308 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:31.139 more devastating flaw for this specific case, is that STR 309 00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:34.299 testing requires relatively intact strands of human DNA. 310 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.620 Which our John Doe absolutely did not have. I mean, 311 00:14:36.659 --> 00:14:39.120 he was out in a Montana winter. And this is 312 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:43.120 where Althrim steps in. Because their specialty is utilizing what 313 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:48.080 they have trademarked as Forensic-grade genome sequencing. Our sources highlight 314 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:52.360 that they focus specifically on extracting human DNA from trace 315 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:55.179 quantities of degraded or contaminated materials. 316 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:57.940 Degraded is the key word here. We really have to 317 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.139 visualize what happened to this man's cells. 318 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:02.539 Yeah, walk us through that biological process. 319 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:06.059 Okay, so when a human body freezes in a Montana winter, 320 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.039 the water inside the cells turns to ice. 321 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:10.220 Makes sense. 322 00:15:10.340 --> 00:15:14.120 Ice crystals expand, and they become sharp. They physically puncture 323 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:15.620 the cell membranes from the inside out. 324 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:17.220 Oh, wow. I never thought about that. 325 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:20.799 Yeah, it's microscopic destruction. Then, when the spring thaw hits, 326 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:25.340 those damaged, punctured cells are flooded with moisture. That accelerates 327 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:27.039 bacterial growth from the forest soil. 328 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:29.169 So the soil basically invades the cell. 329 00:15:29.230 --> 00:15:33.269 Exactly. The bacteria begin consuming the biological material, and their 330 00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:36.029 microbial DNA mixes with the human DNA. 331 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:37.779 So by the time the crime lab gets to it, 332 00:15:37.789 --> 00:15:41.059 the human DNA is not only shattered into microscopic pieces... 333 00:15:41.049 --> 00:15:44.309 but it's also swimming in a sea of forest bacteria. 334 00:15:44.710 --> 00:15:49.289 It is a genetic disaster zone. Older CODIS technology looks 335 00:15:49.330 --> 00:15:52.200 at that sample and just fails because it cannot find 336 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:55.360 those intact 20-core loci. The strands are too short. They're 337 00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:56.019 too fragmented. 338 00:15:56.379 --> 00:15:58.200 But Othram's tech is different. 339 00:15:58.259 --> 00:16:01.980 Very different. Forensic-grade genome sequencing doesn't look for 20 large chunks. 340 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:07.759 It utilizes massive parallel sequencing to read single nucleotide polymorphisms, 341 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:09.539 or polymorphisms. SNPs. 342 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:10.340 SNPs. 343 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:13.320 Got it. Yes. Instead of looking at just 20 locations, 344 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:17.970 parallel sequencing can read hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of 345 00:16:18.090 --> 00:16:20.649 individual markers across the genome simultaneously. 346 00:16:20.710 --> 00:16:21.149 Millions. 347 00:16:21.450 --> 00:16:25.929 Millions. And it filters out the bacterial contamination algorithmically. It 348 00:16:25.990 --> 00:16:29.110 focuses only on the human fragments, no matter how ridiculously 349 00:16:29.210 --> 00:16:29.850 small they are. 350 00:16:30.029 --> 00:16:31.769 It sounds to me like trying to read a book 351 00:16:31.809 --> 00:16:33.879 that was left out in the rain for an entire winter. 352 00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:36.870 Like the pages are rotting away, the ink is bled 353 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.490 into massive stains, and mold is growing on the spine. 354 00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:40.929 That's a perfect analogy. Right. 355 00:16:41.110 --> 00:16:44.649 So a traditional reader, or the older CODIS technology, looks 356 00:16:44.669 --> 00:16:47.870 at that smeared, moldy mess and says, I can't read this. 357 00:16:47.950 --> 00:16:48.850 The words are gone. 358 00:16:48.950 --> 00:16:50.250 Because they're looking for whole sentences. 359 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:56.059 Exactly. But Othram's sequencing technology acts like a hyper-advanced digital scanner. 360 00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:58.299 It doesn't need to see the whole word. It looks 361 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:01.659 at the individual paper fibers. It maps the microscopic traces 362 00:17:01.700 --> 00:17:04.079 of pigment left behind by the ink, and it uses 363 00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:08.750 incredibly complex algorithms to cross-reference those microscopic fragments until it 364 00:17:08.890 --> 00:17:12.289 reconstructs the missing sentences, paragraph by paragraph, until you have 365 00:17:12.309 --> 00:17:13.329 the entire story back. 366 00:17:13.670 --> 00:17:16.849 The algorithm is the crucial part of that analogy. It 367 00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:20.200 is taking billions of data points, the fragmented ink in 368 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:24.559 your example, and computationally stitching them back together into a 369 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:26.079 comprehensive DNA profile. 370 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:27.660 It's basically digital magic. 371 00:17:27.859 --> 00:17:28.640 It feels like it. 372 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:28.900 Yeah. 373 00:17:29.089 --> 00:17:32.960 But as miraculous as that reconstructed profile is, a string 374 00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:35.240 of genetic code still doesn't give you a name. 375 00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:37.160 Right. It's just raw data at that point. 376 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:39.140 Exactly. It just gives you the raw data needed for 377 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:39.740 the next phase. 378 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:42.319 Which is where the biological science gets handed off to 379 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:43.299 the archival science. 380 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:43.599 Yes. 381 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:47.700 Because Othman has an in-house genealogy team that takes this 382 00:17:47.789 --> 00:17:51.349 newly built profile and uses it to generate investigative leads. 383 00:17:51.730 --> 00:17:57.259 This is forensic genetic genealogy in action. The lab scientists 384 00:17:57.420 --> 00:18:00.819 hand the completed genetic profile over to the genealogists. 385 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:01.970 And what do they do with it? 386 00:18:02.339 --> 00:18:06.720 Well, they upload that data into specialized law enforcement approved 387 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:07.900 genetic databases. 388 00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:10.420 But they aren't looking for the John Doe himself in 389 00:18:10.460 --> 00:18:13.529 these databases, right? Because he wouldn't have tested himself. 390 00:18:13.589 --> 00:18:16.650 No, no. They are looking for shared DNA. They measure 391 00:18:16.690 --> 00:18:19.490 the genetic distance in units called centimorgans. 392 00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:20.490 Centimorgans? 393 00:18:20.529 --> 00:18:23.809 Yes. The higher the number of shared centimorgans, the closer 394 00:18:23.829 --> 00:18:26.829 the relationship between two people. So they might find a 395 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:30.450 third cousin or a great aunt who willingly uploaded their 396 00:18:30.490 --> 00:18:33.569 DNA after taking one of those consumer ancestry tests. 397 00:18:33.769 --> 00:18:35.369 Right, like the ones you get for the holidays. 398 00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:39.170 Exactly. And once the genealogist identifies those distant relatives, the 399 00:18:39.210 --> 00:18:42.490 biological work stops and the grueling historical work begins. 400 00:18:42.950 --> 00:18:45.150 So they have to reverse engineer a family tree. 401 00:18:45.430 --> 00:18:49.900