Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Identifies Human Remains from 1978 Cold Case

DNA Doe Project Identified Human Remains from 1978 Cold Case

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and DNA Doe Project have identified
decomposed human remains found in Jackson County in 1978.

On August 15, 1978, members of a logging crew located human remains in a remote wooded tract of county forest land approximately 100 yards south of Keys Rd about ¼ mile east of the intersection of Fish Creek Rd in Knapp Township, Jackson County, Wisconsin.

The remains were estimated to have been located in the area for several months prior to their discovery. The manner of the subject’s death is believed to be homicide.

The remains are identified as Dennis R. McConn DOB 07/27/1947 who went missing from
Kenosha, WI in 1977 at the age of 29. McConn’s next of kin have been notified.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help as the investigation into
McConn’s death continues. Anyone with information on why McConn would have been in
Jackson County, or any other knowledge of this case should contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s

Office Crime Stoppers Line at 800-228-3203 Ext. 199. The DNA Doe Project is a non-profit volunteer organization formed to identify unidentified deceased persons using forensic genealogy. The DNA Doe Project also would like to acknowledge the following people/organizations: DNA Solutions and the International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague for DNA extraction; HudsonAlpha for sequencing; Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations for bioinformatics; GEDmatch and FTDNA for providing their databases; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer genealogists who researched and provided the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and DCI with the identity of the victim.

The investigation remains ongoing and this is all the information we are prepared to release at this time.

Note: If you have any information on this case please submit a tip at jacksoncountycrimestoppers.com, or P3tips.com, downloading the P3tips mobile app or calling 1-800-228-3203 extension 199. You can remain anonymous. Thank you for your help.

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