Headless, handless body found on rural road 56 years ago identified through DNA

ALLEGANY COUNTY, N.Y. (TCN) — A man whose headless, handless body was found on the side of the road in 1970 has been identified. 

On March 12, the New York State Police announced that the body was identified as 35-year-old Clyde Coppage. He had lived in Pennsylvania when he disappeared and was never reported missing. His body was found on March 20, 1970, along the side of the road without a head or hands. According to KATV, investigators at the time believed he had been the victim of a gangland killing, and he became known as Allegany County John Doe. 

The body was exhumed on June 7, 2022, to collect DNA, according to police. In 2023, investigators collaborated with Texas-based DNA lab Othram to use their identity inference technology, KATV reports. This technology allows investigators to identify victims without a known reference sample, according to KATV. The FBI was then able to track down potential relatives of Allegany County John Doe, and this led them to positively identify the remains as belonging to Coppage. 

The New York Post reports Trooper James O’Callaghan said the evidence suggested Coppage was killed and dismembered elsewhere before being taken to the rural road where he was found. His killer has not been identified.

According to police, the investigation into Coppage’s death is open and active.

MORE: