BCA Needs Your Help Identifying Recovered Human Remains

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is asking for help from families of missing people in identifying dozens of sets of human remains found in Minnesota.  

The remains being tested were found in the 1970s to 1990s—many of them at a time when DNA testing was not available. The remains were often kept in at a medical examiner’s office, but the latest testing capabilities allow BCA scientists to get DNA from old remains and remains in poor condition.  

DNA from the remains is being entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System so it can be compared with family member samples.  

Consequently, the BCA is reaching out to family members across Minnesota in order to obtain samples. The samples will only be used to compare to the DNA from unidentified remains and will not be checked against any state or federal law enforcement databases.  

“The process takes seconds and is a simple swab of the inside of their cheek. But the information we’ll be able to learn from it could enable us to bring their loved ones back home,” a news release quoted BCA Forensic Science Laboratory Director Catherine Knutson.    

Minnetonka has two missing people on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).  

David Bird Thomson went missing July 4, 1979, when he was 34. He was last seen standing by Highway 7 and Williston Road in Minnetonka with a backpack and no other belongings. After he was last seen, he worked briefly in Denver and Casper, WY, in 1979. Thomson would now be 66 years old. He is described as a white man who’s 5-feet-8-inches to 5-feet-11-inches tall and 175 to 185 pounds.  

Steven Edward Shimota disappeared April 20, 1985, when he was 21 years old. The details of his disappearance aren’t listed. He would now be 50 years old. He’s described as a white man who’s 5-feet-11-inches tall and 170 pounds.  

• Click here to search the NamUs database.  

• Confirm that a missing person report is on file with the local law enforcement agency, and that the information was entered into the FBI’s NCIC missing person file.
• Provide a DNA sample (cheek swab) and sign a consent form.
• If available, provide dental records, photos and any items which may contain the missing person’s DNA (toothbrush).