Remains Of A Banker Missing Since 1999 Are Found On A California Beach – For The Second Time

More than 2 decades aft a California banker vanished, parts of his assemblage person washed up connected nan west coast – for a 2nd time.

Partial remains discovered connected a Sonoma County formation successful June 2022 person now been identified arsenic Walter Karl Kinney, a 59-year-old banker who vanished successful 1999, according to nan DNA Doe Project.

A family was stepping on Salmon Creek Beach looking for seashells erstwhile they spotted a agelong limb bony protruding from nan sand, pinch surgical hardware still attached. Deputies who were called to nan area searched for further remains, but came up quiet handed.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office turned to nan DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that uses familial genealogy to place chartless remains. After processing a DNA floor plan and uploading it to a nationalist database, nan remains were identified arsenic Kinney.

In a bizarre twist, different parts of Kinney’s assemblage had already been recovered on nan aforesaid coastline years earlier.

Kinney, who was calved successful 1940, had been surviving successful Santa Rosa erstwhile he vanished successful August 1999, according to nan DNA Doe Project. At nan time, investigators had small to spell connected – until a grim find later that aforesaid year.

A severed limb washed ashore astatine Bodega Head, astir 5 miles southbound of Salmon Creek Beach. The ft was still wrong a size 12 Rockport ProWalker footwear fitted pinch a civilization orthopedic insert. But pinch nary different remains, nan investigation deed a dormant end, SFGATE reported.

The first break successful nan lawsuit came successful 2003 erstwhile a female successful Cleveland contacted authorities to study that her father, Walter Kinney, had not been seen for respective years. While she said it wasn’t different for him to suffer interaction owed to struggles pinch alcoholism and periods of incarceration, nan magnitude of his absence raised concern.

Investigators obtained Kinney’s aesculapian records, which showed a history of ft problems. X-rays matched nan remains recovered astatine Bodega Head, confirming those remains were his.

In January 2026, astir 2 decades later, researchers pinch nan DNA Doe Project uncovered past reporting connected nan 1999 remains and nan 2003 identification, allowing investigators to nexus some discoveries to nan aforesaid personification – making Kinney a uncommon lawsuit of personification identified arsenic a John Doe twice, nan statement said.

“This lawsuit was different – it’s not often we spot personification extremity up arsenic a John Doe twice,” said Traci Onders, squad leader pinch DNA Doe Project. “But acknowledgment to investigative familial genealogy, we were capable to resoluteness this enigma and supply immoderate answers to everyone progressive successful this case.”

But contempt identifying nan remains, location are still unanswered questions successful nan case. Authorities person not wished really Kinney died aliases whether foul play was involved.

In 2003, his girl described him to investigators arsenic a man who was “smart, sensitive, almost to a fault,” and said, “This world was conscionable excessively harsh a spot for him.”