Authorities have recently confirmed the identity of skeletal remains discovered in a wooded area back in 1996 as those of William Benjamin Adams, a New Hampshire man who had gone missing nearly three decades ago. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, in conjunction with the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), made this significant announcement.
The story begins in June 1991 when William Benjamin Adams, 78 years old at the time, left his home in Canaan, New Hampshire, to take a walk and never returned. His family shared that he was battling dementia during this period, which made his disappearance all the more concerning. Despite extensive efforts to locate him, their search proved unsuccessful.
The turning point in this mystery came in November 1996 when a hunter made a discovery that would later prove crucial. Skeletal remains were found in a wooded area in Hanover, raising suspicions among authorities that these remains could belong to Adams due to their close proximity to his last known location.
To shed light on the identity of the remains, they were sent to an out-of-state forensic anthropologist in 1997. While initial examinations indicated that the biological characteristics matched those of Benjamin Adams, a positive identification couldn’t be established at that time.
Fast forward to the present, and the case has been revisited with a fresh perspective. The OCME, along with the University of New Hampshire F.A.I.R. Lab and the State Police Major Crime and Cold Case Units, embarked on a mission to leverage modern DNA technology to unravel the mystery of Adams’ disappearance.
Crucially, this investigation involved obtaining a DNA sample from Adams’ son. This DNA sample was then compared to some of the skeletal remains discovered in 1996, utilizing the services of the private lab, Bode Technology. The results were staggering: the probability of relatedness was confirmed to be ‘at least 99.999998%’, and the DNA evidence was deemed ‘at least 42 million times’ more likely to originate from a biological parent compared to untested and unrelated individuals, as stated by the attorney general’s office.
This breakthrough in identifying the remains provides a sense of closure to a long-standing and heart-wrenching mystery surrounding William Benjamin Adams’ disappearance. His family, who had lived with the uncertainty for decades, can now find solace in knowing his fate.
Efforts are currently underway to reunite the remains with Adams’ family, allowing them to finally lay their beloved family member to rest.
PEOPLE reached out to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office and New Hampshire State Police for further insights into this compelling development, which underscores the enduring importance of persistence and advancements in forensic science in solving cold cases and providing answers to families who have waited for far too long.
