On April 8, 1985, a motorist stopped in a breakdown lane of an interstate highway in Massachusetts and made a grim discovery. Off the shoulder, in the brush, was a human skeleton.
The police were called. Investigators converged. An analysis of the skeleton showed evidence of inflicted trauma. The cause of death was homicide.
But the identity of the 5-foot-9 Caucasian man eluded authorities, despite the use of dental records, publicity through the media and a reconstruction of the skull to recreate facial features of the man as he appeared before he died.
Now, thanks to the Bristol District Attorney Unidentified Bodies unit, the Massachusetts State Police Unresolved Unit, and DNA technology, authorities finally have a name — Keith Olson, 27, from Rhode Island.
Keith Olson (Bristol District Attorney)
Officials are seeking the public’s help for information leading to clues about his disappearance and murder.
The family is desperate for answers.
“Keith Olson, our son and brother, was a very, very much loved, endeared and respected member of our family and is deeply missed,” they said in a statement through the Bristol District Attorney’s Office. “Keith’s disappearance has been the most horrible experience our family has ever faced. The not knowing and the longing for him to come home has long been a tremendous devastation. This was especially so for our mother, Sheila. Our mother had tried relentlessly and at great lengths to find her son and our brother.”
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn urged the public to come forward. Police have strong reason to believe at least two people committed the crime, prosecutors said.
“It’s so critical in these cases,” he said. “Anything could be important. I’m sure there are individuals who have some information about the case.”
The breakthrough came when law enforcement got the help of Othram, a private laboratory in Texas, and the FBI’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy Team.
Officials said the efforts successfully developed a genetic profile from DNA evidence recovered from the skeletal remains.
With the profile, investigators used forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) that compares the profile to thousands of other DNA profiles and establishes a family tree related to the unknown individual, authorities said.
After connecting the individual to a family tree, investigators identified the recovered remains as Olson’s.
Reported missing from Cranston, Rhode Island, he was last seen on April 15, 1981, nearly four years before his remains were found off Interstate 195 in Fairhaven, just beyond the Mattapoisett town line.
Olson had been dating a woman. Although their relationship was brief, it resulted in friction between Olson and a man named John Broccoli, who had been in a relationship with the same woman, authorities said.
A witness to Olson’s disappearance described that two men escorted Olson from his Cranston apartment. On the same day that Olson was last seen, Broccoli made cryptic statements to the woman who had been dating Olson. These statements suggested Broccoli’s possible involvement in this matter. Broccoli died in 2019 at age 63.
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