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Remains found in Weld County in 2018 identified

Douglas Wayne Jackson had been reported missing from Aurora.

WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Remains found in Weld County in 2018 belong to an Aurora man who was previously reported missing, the sheriff's office said this week.

The remains found west of Fort Lupton on Dec. 7, 2018, belong to Douglas Wayne Jackson. Until now the remains were only known as John Doe.

A crew that was surveying the land in that area found Jackson's remains, which included skull, bones, some clothes, a backpack, and other miscellaneous items, according to the Weld County Sheriff's Office. (WCSO). Deputies believed the remains had been there for a long period of time and that the man might have died as early as 2016.

The case was turned over to WCSO Investigations to identify the remains, but the case was not investigated as a homicide.

In July 2020, the sheriff's office put out new information about the case which included photographs of personal items found with the remains and an artistic reconstruction of his face.

Credit: Weld County Sheriff's Office

The following March, the sheriff's office submitted portions of the remains to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was able to obtain DNA.

It was sent to Parabon Nanolabs for forensic genetic genealogy and in November of last year, the sheriff's office got a report indicating that the remains possibly belonged to Jackson, who was reported missing from Aurora.

Detectives contacted his sister and were able to compare her DNA with his, which confirmed Jackson’s identity.

Credit: Annette Jackson
Douglas Wayne Jackson

Jackson's sister, Annette Jackson, said Tuesday that her brother had left her house in March 2016 to go to a house-sitting job in Weld County. When she was unable to reach him, she said, she reported him missing. 

"Doug was a generous, funny and loving person that is dearly missed," she said.

The sheriff's office recently hired an investigator whose sole focus is on cold cases. The sheriff's office said this case was resolved due to good old-fashioned investigative techniques, paired with modern-day technology.  

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