Preston
The Indiana State Police is asking for the public’s help in a 26-year-old western Indiana cold case.
In January 1998, a state highway employee found skeletal remains along Fruitridge Avenue near the Interstate 70 overpass in Vigo County, about 70 miles west of Franklin. Over the last 26 years several investigative techniques and many hours have been spent trying to identify the skeletal remains, without success. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and were sent to Louisiana State University, which developed a forensic facial reconstruction and released it to the public in hopes the remains could be identified, according to an Indiana State Police news release.
Last year, the Vigo County Coroner’s Office, in conjunction with Indiana State Police and the University of Indianapolis, submitted forensic evidence to Othram, a corporation specializing in forensic genetic genealogy, in hopes that advanced DNA would assist in identification of the unknown skeletal remains. Othram was able to develop a DNA profile producing new investigative leads, the news release says.
Detectives with the ISP Cold Case Team contacted potential family members of the unidentified human remains thereafter. Additional DNA testing and investigative efforts have now identified the skeletal remains as Mitchell Preston, 47, of Anderson. Preston was last seen in August 1997 in Anderson, and he was on foot and traveling to California, according to the news release.
While detectives are pleased to bring some closure for the family of Preston, they are asking for the public’s assistance for anyone who may have seen the man or have any knowledge of what might have happened to him.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Trooper Detective Brad Miller, of the ISP Cold Case Team, at 1-800-225-8576. It is an active investigation and all tips will be investigated. They can also remain anonymous, the news release says.
