The body of the Chicago teen, who was murdered by serial killer Larry Eyler in 1983, has finally been identified 40 years later.
Keith Lavell Bibbs was 17 years old when he went missing in 1983. His remains were one of four bodies that were found on an abandoned farm in Lake Village, Indiana in October 1983.
Bibbs, who was called Adam Doe, was a hitchhiker who had been drugged and murdered by Eyler, who targeted young boys and men. Eyler admitted to the murder before he was killed via lethal injection in 1994.
Two of the decedents, Michael Bauer and John Bartlett, were identified quickly after the discovery. The bodies of Bibbs and victim John Brandenburg took authorities several years to identify.
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“Of the four victims found, all have now been identified,” the Newton County Coroner’s Office said in a press release on Monday. “Michael Bauer and John Bartlett were identified early in the investigation leaving ‘Adam Doe’ and ‘Brad Doe’ unidentified for years.”
The coroner’s office said that genetic genealogy was a main reason why Bibbs was identified, along with help from the DNA Doe Project and Newton County’s chief deputy prosecutor Rebecca Goddard.
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“After reaching out to potential family members and allowing the upload of their DNA into a program called GEDMatch, a match was developed,” the office explained. “The family was quickly and quietly notified, and a Family Reference Sample (FRS) was obtained from a potential brother of ‘Adam’.”
Indiana State Police later tested the genetic sample and determined that Bibbs was Adam Doe. No further information will be immediately released by officials out of respect to Bibbs’ family.
“It is the hopes of this Office that the family’s wishes will be honored and that they be given the time that they need to deal with this development,” the coroner’s office added.