Nebraska man ID’d as Minnesota cold case murder victim

Researchers using DNA technology have identified a murder victim found near a Minnesota freeway more than four decades ago.

Louis Anthony Gattaino, of Omaha, Nebraska had been missing since October 1971 when his remains were found 10 years later, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Tuesday.

A highway worker found the skeletal remains of Gattaino near a culvert along Interstate 90 near County Highway 23, the agency said. 

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He was 25 when he went missing.

“While it’s not news anyone wants, Louis Gattaino’s family at long last has some answers,” Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge said. “And while there is still much to be learned about Mr. Gattaino’s death, knowing his identity – even decades after he died – is a critically important new clue in this case.”

State forensic scientists obtained DNA from the remains, but none matched to anyone in convicted offender or missing persons databases, authorities said.

Over the summer, researchers with The Doe Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying missing persons, identified a possible genetic connection to Gattaino’s family.

Authorities obtained DNA samples from several Gattaino family members in Omaha and informed them of the identification last week, the BCA said. 

“Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy continues to unlock mysteries and provide families with answers about their loved ones,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said. “Although DNA testing wasn’t possible when Louis Gattaino died, we are grateful that it brings his family some resolution today.