Menlo Park John Doe identified after 40 years

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Brian Edward Jones, Menlo Park John Doe publicly identified on May 24 after he disappeared in December 1984. Photo: CA's Office of the Attorney General

MENLO PARK, Calif. - Authorities have identified the remains of a man found in Menlo Park in 1985 as 20-year-old Brian Edward Jones. 

What we know:

Jones was last seen alive by his family while leaving for work in December 1984. 

Officials with San Mateo County's Coroner's Office said Jones was a San Jose resident.

The 20-year-old's remains were discovered in a part of Menlo Park that was undeveloped on April 15, 1985.

Dig deeper:

On Oct. 26, 2023, Jones' remains were exhumed by the San Mateo County Coroner's Office, and DNA was submitted to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a database maintained by the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in solving crimes.

A routine search of CODIS yielded a potential biological relationship between Jones' remains and a sample submitted during a missing person report taken in 2016, officials said. 

Officials did more testing and last month, the coroner's office learned the comparison strongly showed a familial relationship between the sample and Jones' remains.

The San Mateo County Coroner's Office informed Jones' next of kin about the positive identification on Tuesday. 

What we don't know:

It's unclear how Jones died. Authorities didn't say if foul play is suspected in his death or if they opened an investigation.

KTVU reached out to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and Coroner's Office for more information but did not hear back in time for this report.