Jawbone In Boy's Rock Collection Is Linked To Dead Marine Thanks To Bergen County Students

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Students in a Bergen County genealogy program have helped identify remains found by a young boy as those of a marine who was killed in a military training exercise in 1951.

According to a spokesperson for Ramapo College's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center program — which uses forensic technology to help identify remains — a boy collecting rocks in Arizona in 2002 found what he thought was an unusual looking object. Years later, his parents noticed it in the boy's rock collection and turned it over to law enforcement.

It turned out to be part of a human jawbone.

The Yavapai County, Arizona Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) and Yavapai County Medical Examiner referred the case to the Ramapo College Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center, based in Mahwah, in January 2023.

In May 2023, the North Texas Center for Human Identification sent an extract from the "rock" to Intermountain Forensics in Salt Lake City, Utah, where whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics were performed. A profile was developed and uploaded to GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA.

Then, last summer, the students in the Ramapo College IGG Bootcamp used the information to work on the case.

It took them, along with IGG Center intern Ethan Schwartz from Suffern, N.Y., fewer than two days to produce a lead, which was then handed over to YCSO.

Last month, in March 2024, the jawbone was identified as belonging to U.S. Marine Corps Captain Everett Leland Yager, who died in a military training exercise in July of 1951, leaving behind a young son and a baby daughter.

The identification was confirmed by comparing DNA from the "rock" with that obtained from a relative of Capt. Yager.

Decades ago, Yager's other remains were recovered in the Riverside County, Calif. area and buried in Palmyra, Missouri, said a Ramapo College spokesperson. Yager's accident had taken place in the air over California.

So how did his jawbone end up in Arizona?

One theory, according to Ramapo, is that a bird or other "scavenger" picked it up and eventually deposited it.

Plans are being made to reunite the remains with Yager's relatives. His son died in 2022 and his daughter died in 1979 at age 28.

This is the first case resolution performed by the IGG’s summer bootcamp student cohort, said a Rampo spokesperson, although students in the program during the regular school year have identified other remains of missing people.

Intern Ethan Schwartz is probably the youngest person to ever contribute to an investigative genetic genealogy case resolution, Ramapo said.

“This case was a lesson in expecting the unexpected, and a testament to the power of IGG education at Ramapo College of New Jersey,” said Cairenn Binder, assistant director of the Ramapo College IGG Center. “The team that worked on this case at our IGG bootcamp included some truly outstanding researchers, and we are so proud of them for helping to repatriate Captain Yager’s remains and return them to his family.”

For more information about Ramapo College, the IGG Center and its offerings, visit ramapo.edu/igg.