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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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The identity of a man who was found murdered in Tennessee nearly 40 years ago, has finally been uncovered with the help of forensic DNA testing.
On August 30, 1988, the remains of a man were discovered by railway workers repairing a section of track in the Coster Rail Yard area of Knoxville.
Forensic anthropologists working on the case at the time later determined that the remains belonged to a white male who was likely to be between the ages of 21 and 30.
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The man’s death was ruled a homicide by police.
Despite the efforts of investigators from the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Regional Forensic Center, who worked to try and identify the victim using the technology available at the time, the authorities were unable to determine the man’s identity.
With all leads exhausted, the victim was classified as a “John Doe,” the placeholder name used in legal proceedings, law enforcement, and general contexts to represent an unknown or anonymous male.
Despite hitting a dead end, efforts to identify the man, who became known as the “Knoxville John Doe” continued in the years that followed.
The University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center submitted a sample of the man’s remains to the University of Texas Center for Human Identification.
A DNA profile was then developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) in hopes that the man could eventually be identified. Once again, though, it came to nothing: no matches were found.
Then in May 2023, as part of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative, TBI agents assisted the Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Regional Forensic Center by submitting a sample of the remains to Othram, a private lab based in Texas, for forensic genealogical (FGG) DNA testing.
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There, scientists made a breakthrough: they were able to identify possible relatives connected to the man.
Last month, agents and detectives contacted one of the potential family members and obtained a familial DNA sample. That sample was submitted to Othram for comparison with the DNA from the unidentified remains.
Based on DNA testing and forensic genealogy results, scientists have now confirmed the remains belonged to James Robert Benson, who would have been 22 at the time of his death.
Originally from the Knoxville area. Benson was last seen near the end of March 1988.
Though the breakthrough is a significant one, this case is far from closed.
Detectives and agents are now asking for the public’s help as they continue to investigate the homicide of James Robert Benson.
Anyone with information about this case, particularly knowledge of individuals Benson may have been with before his death, is asked to contact the Knoxville Police Department Homicide Unit at 865-215-7275.
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