Identified! MT - Marion, WhtMale 18-49, UP13963, MJ Pipe, Pistol, Poker Game, Oct'03 - Steven Edward Gooch

[Curious_in_NC]

Interesting how his last name wasn't any of the speculated ones, unlike say, Frank Little.

Not trying to sleuth family members, but the US states with the highest incidence of that last name are Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. So he might well have had a family connection to one of the names and locales suggested earlier.
https://forebears.io/surnames/gooch

 

[djanga]

From the DDP website:

Marion Flathead Co John Doe 2003 - DNA Doe Project Cases

On February 6, 2022 DNA Doe Project (DDP) and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) announced that the partial skeleton remains found in Marion, Montana were those of Steven Edward Gooch who was known as Marion/Flathead Co John Doe 2003. After more than three years of painstaking investigative genetic genealogy into very distant DNA matches, DDP volunteers were able to narrow down the Doe’s family to the descendants of a couple in Indiana who had migrated to the Seattle area.

The DDP and the FCSO never gave up searching for the name of Marion/Flathead Co John Doe 2003, despite all odds. Without any missing persons matches from the area, the case went cold and progress was not made until Deputy Coroner Shelley Giebeig decided to see if investigative genetic genealogy could be used to identify the remains. She brought the cold case to the DNA Doe Project in 2018, having only a partial skeleton to work with.

After obtaining a DNA sample from the bones, laboratory analysis was performed to create a full DNA sequence and bioinformatics created a DNA profile that was uploaded to GEDmatch and FTDNA, public DNA databases. While there were matches in the systems, they were to very distantly related people. DNA Doe Project volunteers struggled to locate the most recent common ancestor among the matches, eventually identifying the correct branch of the family tree. Giebeig followed up with the five closest DNA relatives and made a connection with Steven Gooch’s father.

“Because we don’t charge for the investigative genetic genealogy, we can afford to work on a case to its conclusion, no matter how long it takes,” explained DNA Doe Project co-founder Margaret Press. “In this case, it took the dedicated work of talented genetic genealogists almost three years, but we were able to bring Mr. Gooch back to his family and community.”

The DNA Doe Project wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Coroner Shelley Giebeig, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Othram, Inc. for sequencing; Gregory Magoon for bioinformatics; GEDmatch and FTDNA for providing their databases; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring victims home.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Rest peacefully now Steven.

 

[leilarose68]

This article about Steven Gooch has a few interesting tidbits:

Remains found in 2003 in Montana identified as missing Bothell man | HeraldNet.com

'Many times, volunteers identify long-deceased John Does but find there’s no one still alive who really cares. Gooch’s father still needed closure, and that made this case all the more gratifying, Foreman said.'

'It took the DNA Doe Project more than three years to crack the case, making it one of the nonprofit’s longest-running. **Their average is one or two months**'

 

[Curious_in_NC]

This article about Steven Gooch has a few interesting tidbits:

Remains found in 2003 in Montana identified as missing Bothell man | HeraldNet.com

Thanks! Looks like the work is still ongoing:

Now police will try to determine the circumstances leading to Gooch’s death. The cause and manner of death remain pending, Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said. The Montana state crime lab did an examination, but the lack of a complete set of remains has posed a challenge.

“There’s still a lot of work to do to try to figure out how he got here and try to get more answers, if we can,” Giebeig said. “I don’t know if we’ll get those answers.”

Those with information that may be helpful are encouraged to contact the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in Montana at 406-758-5600 or tips@flathead.mt.gov.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Close to 20 years later, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office through the work of the nonprofit DNA Doe Project, identified the man as Steven Gooch of Washington.

A look at how a 2003 Flathead County cold case was solved

The DNA Doe Project is a nonprofit made up of volunteers partnering with law enforcement to provide investigative genetic genealogy solving cases of unidentified remains.

www.kbzk.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Steven Gooch, left, is seen with his family in the 1980s or 1990s.

It was the opening day of hunting season in October 2003, but the game trails had gone cold on Ed and Bonnie Peter when they decided to stop for lunch. They were wandering in a plot of private forestland owned by a timber company that in those years was still open to hunters and hikers just south of U.S. Highway 2 near Marion, about 30 minutes west of Kalispell. They found a rocky outcrop with a view of the rolling mountains to the north and sat down to eat. At one point during their lunch, Ed looked down and saw a weather-beaten bag, frayed and ripped from what looked like years in the elements. Inside was a Smith & Wesson .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Ed thought it was odd that someone would ever leave their gun abandoned in the woods — after all, a piece like that could cost a few hundred dollars — so he joked to Bonnie that whoever owned the gun was probably down at the bottom of the cliff they were sitting atop. Realizing there might be some truth to the offhanded remark, Ed and Bonnie skirted the bottom of the ledge and started to poke around. They quickly found a water bottle, then the tattered remains of a shoe and a human skull. Stunned at their discovery, the couple briefly discussed what they should do.

“We almost didn’t tell anyone,” Ed said. “But then I thought, you know, if it was our kid out there we would want to know what happened to them.”

After Ed and Bonnie called 911, officers from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office descended on the scene and began to search the area around the cliff for more clues. In the underbrush, they found more bone fragments, as well as a butterfly knife, a small plastic Aleve bottle, a hand-held electronic poker game, a book, a ragged fanny pack, coins, sunglasses, .22 caliber bullets and a marijuana pipe. What they did not find was an identification card telling them who this person was.

Finding Steven - Flathead Beacon

For five years, Shelley Giebeig has wondered about the identity of Cliff Doe, the nickname given to human remains discovered nearly 20 years ago at the bottom of a steep and rocky precipice near Marion. The case had been cold for years until Giebeig, a detective’s secretary and deputy coroner...

flatheadbeacon.com

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Steven Gooch, left, is seen with his family in the 1980s or 1990s.

It was the opening day of hunting season in October 2003, but the game trails had gone cold on Ed and Bonnie Peter when they decided to stop for lunch. They were wandering in a plot of private forestland owned by a timber company that in those years was still open to hunters and hikers just south of U.S. Highway 2 near Marion, about 30 minutes west of Kalispell. They found a rocky outcrop with a view of the rolling mountains to the north and sat down to eat. At one point during their lunch, Ed looked down and saw a weather-beaten bag, frayed and ripped from what looked like years in the elements. Inside was a Smith & Wesson .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Ed thought it was odd that someone would ever leave their gun abandoned in the woods — after all, a piece like that could cost a few hundred dollars — so he joked to Bonnie that whoever owned the gun was probably down at the bottom of the cliff they were sitting atop. Realizing there might be some truth to the offhanded remark, Ed and Bonnie skirted the bottom of the ledge and started to poke around. They quickly found a water bottle, then the tattered remains of a shoe and a human skull. Stunned at their discovery, the couple briefly discussed what they should do.

“We almost didn’t tell anyone,” Ed said. “But then I thought, you know, if it was our kid out there we would want to know what happened to them.”

After Ed and Bonnie called 911, officers from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office descended on the scene and began to search the area around the cliff for more clues. In the underbrush, they found more bone fragments, as well as a butterfly knife, a small plastic Aleve bottle, a hand-held electronic poker game, a book, a ragged fanny pack, coins, sunglasses, .22 caliber bullets and a marijuana pipe. What they did not find was an identification card telling them who this person was.

Finding Steven - Flathead Beacon

For five years, Shelley Giebeig has wondered about the identity of Cliff Doe, the nickname given to human remains discovered nearly 20 years ago at the bottom of a steep and rocky precipice near Marion. The case had been cold for years until Giebeig, a detective’s secretary and deputy coroner...

flatheadbeacon.com

Photo of Steven as a child from the article.