Body found in northwestern Arizona is identified 15 years later

ARIZONA — The remains of a John Doe who was found back in 2009 near the Arizona-Nevada border close to the Hoover Dam have been identified.

The body belonged to William Herman Hietamaki, who was born on April 4, 1950. According to authorities he was from Trout Creek, Michigan.

Back on Nov. 11, 2009, as construction workers were pouring cement on a Highway 93 widening project near the Hoover Dam, one of them found what appeared to be a bone, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

The workers searched the surrounding area, locating more bones and realized the bones were human remains.

Construction workers and authorities did another search of the area and found more bones along with “a sun-bleached pair of blue jeans, a damaged white towel, a sun-bleached red T-shirt, a black athletic shoe and a green sleeping bag.”

Days later an additional search resulted in finding more of the remains. All evidence was turned over to the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office. Detectives spent years on the case and tried to generate leads to no avail.

How were remains found near Hoover Dam identified?

On Feb. 2, 2022, an MCSO detective took a bone sample from the victim supplied by the medical examiner. The sample was submitted for examination to the Arizona Department of Public Safety lab requesting a DNA profile so it could be entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national DNA database maintained by the FBI.

A sample was also sent to the University of North Texas (UNT), where an extracted DNA sample was taken and stored away. All efforts to identify the remains were unsuccessful.

In April 2024, investigators who were a part of Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the sheriff’s office were alerted by Othram Inc., a genetics lab in Texas, that there was funding to cover Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) for this case. The sample from UNT was sent to the Othram lab and a DNA profile was made and placed into a genealogy database for investigation to have a genetic genealogist look it over.

In October 2024, SIU investigators finally learned Hietamaki’s identity and spoke with relatives who said he traveled throughout the Southwest and was known to hitchhike.

Hietamaki, who went by his middle name, Herman, was last seen by his family when he went to visit his sister in New Mexico in 1995. Public records show he lived in Las Vegas for a short time. Hietamaki had a history of epileptic seizures, according to MCSO.

The medical examiner couldn’t determine the cause of death because his remains were badly decomposed but estimated he died somewhere in 2006-08.