Boxcar Boy exhumed for DNA after 94 years
Crowdfunded geneticists recovered bones from a 1932 freight train death in Charlotte, aiming to identify the teen by next year.
By Ruben Morales ·
The identification of a teenager known as the Boxcar Boy, who died in a 1932 freight train accident, remains a major unsolved case in Charlotte. On Monday, investigators and genetic specialists exhumed his remains from Elmwood Cemetery to attempt a modern DNA match.
The teen was killed when shifting steel beams crushed him inside a rail car. After 94 years, crews recovered the cranium, jawbone, and tooth fragments from the soil at the Uptown cemetery. The excavation was made possible by a crowdfunding campaign that raised the necessary $11,000.
Geneticists from Ramapo College in New Jersey led the effort. Tracie Boyle, the Case Management Director at Ramapo College, noted that the amount of DNA required for a profile has decreased over time. She stated, “The amount of DNA that you need to use to get a DNA profile has gotten less and less and less, and it’s literally just changing cold case investigations.”
This is not the first time the team has worked with local police. The researchers have solved seven other cold cases in partnership with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. If a match is found, cold case detectives will contact living relatives.
Det. Matt Hefner of the CMPD Homicide Cold Case Unit expressed hope in the process. He said, “This is still a great experience to know that after 94 years, we might have a chance to identify this young man and get him back to some family.”
The entire project is privately funded, costing local taxpayers nothing. The research team expects to provide a definitive identification of the teenager by next year.
Source: WCCB
