Murdered Man Found On Tennessee Trail Identified Nearly Four Decades Later

On Aug. 24, 1986, hunters discovered the skeletal remains of a man along a remote trail in the Caney Valley area of East Tennessee. The remains were later determined to likely be a murdered white male between the ages of 30 and 40, reported WVLT. He had been shot, and the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department determined that he was probably dead for six months to a year before his remains were discovered.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation worked alongside the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office as they tried to solve the case. Investigators exhausted all the leads they could, but ultimately the case went cold. They couldn’t identify the man, and he was classified as a John Doe.

Decades went by, but they didn’t give up on finding the man’s identity or solving the case. According to a press release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center sent a sample of the man’s DNA to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification in September 2015. They were then able to develop a DNA profile that was put into the National Missing and the Unidentified Persons System Combined DNA Index System.

Then, in December 2022, agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation sent a sample of the “John Doe” remains to Othram Inc. for forensic genetic genealogical DNA testing. After scientists offered information about potential relatives, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation found possible family members in Arkansas. Two people they contacted confirmed they were missing a brother, and the Pine Bluff Police Department and the Hot Springs Police Department in Arkansas worked with TBI agents to obtain the DNA necessary to determine if these people were siblings of the “John Doe”.

The hard work that spanned decades ultimately paid off. In June 2023, the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification identified the man as Jerry Harrison of Little Rock, Arkansas. Born on December 20, 1957, there was no need to refer to him as John Doe ever again.

Jerry Harrison had last been in touch with his family in 1982 after he began traveling around the United States.

There’s still work to do, though. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is asking for the public’s help in solving Harrison’s murder. If you have any information about the murder or even about the people that Harrison might have been spending time with prior to his death, TBI asks that you call 1-800-TBI-FIND.