Human remains found in Menlo Park ID'd as San Jose man missing for 40 years

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Advanced DNA technology is revolutionizing how many forensic cases are solved.

Authorities say Brian Edward Jones, 20, of San Jose was last seen alive in December of 1984.

It was reported he was feeling unhappy following a breakup.

Roughly four months later, partial remains were found in Menlo Park, but never identified.

On Friday, 40 years later, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office announced those partial remains were those of Jones.

It was thanks to years of DNA testing by the California Department of Justice.

"We're averaging almost a case a day at this point," said Michael Vogen, Director of Case Management with Othram.

MORE: Improved DNA technology credited with solving 35-year-old Tilden Park cold case

When it comes to DNA technology, Othram is at the forefront.

He said so far, the Texas-based lab has solved a total of 60 unidentified remains and suspect cases in California alone.

"And this used to be an industry that celebrated a case here, and a case there, and they were mostly high, you know, publicity cases that everyone knew about, but there's a lot of cases out there that people don't know about," he said.

If you go to Othram's website, an interactive feature allows you to see how many cases throughout the country were solved in the last seven days, the last 30 days and beyond.

"And so, we really wanted to structure an interactive page that people can see the impact over time."

MORE: DNA found on cigarette carton leads to major break in 1977 San Jose cold case murder

One of the most recent cold cases solved by Othram was identifying Kay Josephine Medin, reported missing out of Humboldt County in 1987.

Congressman Jared Huffman said the funding he helped secure in 2024 for the Sheriff's Office for DNA technology helped clear a backlog of cases.

"Yeah, I think over the last few years, there's a lot of grant opportunities that agencies can apply for and we've seen that dollar total go up."

MORE: 78-year-old man sentenced for 1982 Sunnyvale cold case murder of teen Karen Stitt

"Even some of the guidelines to make it easier for agencies to get to that money is becoming less restrictive which is a good thing."

Othram partners with law enforcement at the local, state and federal level.