Nearly half a century ago, a set of human remains found near Meteor City, Arizona were finally identified, ending a 49-year-old mystery. The Coconino County Sheriff's Office, working alongside Intermountain Forensics, the FBI's Latent Print Unit, and the Coconino County Office of the Medical Examiner, confirmed the identity of the remains as Gerald Francis Long, a Vietnam War vet who vanished decades earlier.
The bones of Gerald Long were first discovered back in 1975 by farmers who were on a chase to find a runaway pig. For years, the victim was only known as Munsingwear Doe, a nod to the brand of jacket found near the remains. Various leads and investigative efforts turned fruitless until August 2023, when Coconino County Sheriff's Office decisively contracted Intermountain Forensics to finally put a name to Munsingwear Doe using Forensic Genetic Genealogy.
By establishing a DNA profile and scouring genealogy databases, Intermountain Forensics traced a family line and identified Long as a potential match by February 2024. Then, "Using this information, the FBI Laboratory’s Latent Print Unit was able to compare partial fingerprints from the remains collected in 1975 to known fingerprint records belonging to Gerald Long," according to a statement from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.
Family members, who last saw Long when he decided to leave Minnesota in 1972, provided a DNA sample, which Intermountain Forensics used in May 2024 to confirm that the remains were indeed Gerald F Long. Despite determining Long's identity, the cause of death remains a puzzle. Although the pieces of who he was have come together, the circumstances around what led Munsingwear Doe to meet his end still linger unanswered.
The Coconino County Sheriff's Office has expressed their gratitude towards all parties involved in the resolution of this case and offered their condolences to Long's family, who have asked for privacy during this revelation.
