Miner Slough, Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California

Twenty-three years after a man's body was pulled out of a Northern California marsh, a breakthrough in the case has revealed his name and a familial connection to another body found in the Sacramento River.

On March 11, 2001, Solano County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to Minor Slough — an inlet of brackish water near Ryer Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta — after a body was discovered there. Despite an extensive investigation, the identity of the dead man eluded authorities, and he was buried as Solano County John Doe #3.

In 2023, the county coroner began reopening cold cases as part of a project aiming to identify unknown decedents through advances in forensic genealogy. John Doe #3's body was exhumed and the investigation reopened. With the help of Othram, a DNA testing lab in Texas, the man was........

© SFGate