Decades-Old Cold Case Has Ties To Ohio

ASHTABULA, OH — The victim of an unsolved Florida killing has been identified as an Ohio man who went missing in 1993, Ashtabula County Sheriff William Johnson announced Wednesday. DNA technology helped to link the two cases.

Wayne Calvin Griffith was last seen in Ashtabula in Oct. 1993. He was 43 at the time. Investigators believed Griffith had gone to Florida but were unable to track his movements. Recently, police matched Griffith's DNA to the previously unidentified remains of a man found dead in Palm Beach Florida in 1993.

“Through hard work and collaboration, we are pleased to have been able to provide closure for this family,” Johnson said. “Continuing work on cold cases, and all cases for that matter, is crucial. Just because a number of years have gone by doesn’t mean it ever ends.”

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and the Bureau of Criminal Investigations received a tip about Griffith in Feb. 2019. A missing persons case was then opened with the Ashtabula County Sheriff's office.

Through Project LINK (linking individuals not known), DNA was collected from Griffith's family and uploaded to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

As Ohio law enforcement worked to locate Griffith, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office was trying to identify the remains found in 1993. Florida law enforcement asked the Center for Human Identification to review the case.

When Griffith's DNA profile was uploaded to CODIS, it matched the Florida remains. Additional DNA testing and information provided by Griffith's family confirmed the identity.

“Persistent detective work and DNA technology revealed that a missing persons case from Ohio and an unsolved homicide from Florida were one in the same,” Yost said. “This outcome brings closure to a family, long separated from their loved one.”

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to contact Detective John Cogburn of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office by calling 561-688-4063 or emailing CogburnJ@pbso.org.