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DNA tests confirm Georgia remains match Michigan teen last seen in 1979

Posted at 6:57 AM, Aug 15, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-15 16:09:13-04

DNA tests confirmed that "John Doe" buried in Georgia in 1979 is a missing Michigan teen. 

On Feb. 12, 1979, Andrew Jackson Greer left Addison High School and did not return home. His whereabouts have been unknown for the past 39 years. 

The case remained cold after investigations by Michigan State Police and the Lenawee County Sheriff's Department in 2000.

Police say the cold case was re-opened in 2014 and the mystery of Greer's whereabouts have been solved. A forensic analyst from the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas confirmed that DNA from a John Doe who was buried in a pauper's grave in Macon, Georgia, matches Greer's DNA.

According to police, all indications are that Greer ran away from home on Feb. 12, 1979 and was killed when he was struck by a semi-truck while hitchhiking down I-75 near Macon, Georgia on Feb. 14, 1979. 

His identity had been a mystery to Georgia authorities and MSP had no information on his whereabouts until the connection was made in December 2017.