Recently, The Porchlight Project’s director, James Renner, visited Kent State University to speak to Professor Stephanie Smith’s class about local true crime cases. It turns out they’ve done some investigations of their own. Students Adriana Gasiewski, Kayla Gleason, and Alex … Continue reading “What Happened to Judy Martins?” →
Porchlight Project Board Member Carolyn Berardino also runs the Cold Case Collaborative, an agency that provides targeted outreach and marketing for lesser known unsolved mysteries. Her latest case is the strange story of Jim Donofrio. Do you have information in … Continue reading “Cold Case Collaborative: What Really Happened to Jim Donofrio?” →
More than four decades after he was killed in a traffic collision in Ohio, the DNA Doe Project has identified Western Reserve Road John Doe as 41-year-old Charles Joseph Nunnenman III. Nunnenman was originally from the Boston area but was … Continue reading “Porchlight Assists In Identifying 1982 Ohio John Doe” →
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — In another victory for forensic genealogy, Ohio Attorney General DaveYost and Franklin County Coroner Dr. Nate Overmire announced today that the skeletal remainsof a white male found 36 years ago have been identified. “Solving a cold case … Continue reading “Franklin County John Doe Has Been Identified!” →
Press release from the City of Toledo Police Department Toledo, OH (April 1, 2025): On March 20, 2025, the Toledo Police Department along with other partners were able to identify the remains of a missing female from 1987. Genetic genealogy … Continue reading “Toledo Jane Doe Has Been Identified!” →
On June 16, 1987, the body of a young woman was discovered behind an auto repair shop on Collingwood Boulevard near Interstate 75. It appeared that she had been dead for at least several days. At the time she was … Continue reading “DNA Testing Begins in Toledo Cold Case” →
Writer Carolyn Berardino, author of the exclusive Porchlight Project article about the identification of the Paris Township John Doe, appears on WFMJ to speak about the discovery. Click here to watch.
By Carolyn Berardino After 35 years, The Portage County Sheriff’s Office, with help from Ohio’s BCI, has identified a John Doe, whose remains were found partially buried in a shallow grave in Paris Township in 1988. In August 2023, detectives … Continue reading “A Porchlight Project Exclusive: 1988 Paris Township John Doe Identified as David Kaziateck” →
Congratulations to Lead Genealogist for the Porchlight Project, Val Bogart, who received a special reward for service from the Youngstown Police Department at their annual awards ceremony. Earlier this year Val successfully identified an unknown homicide victim from a 46 … Continue reading “Val Bogart, Lead Genealogist for the Porchlight Project, Awarded by Youngstown PD.” →
Exactly 43 years to the day after a woman’s body was found on the shores of Lake Erie, in Sandusky, Ohio, police have verified her identity as that of Patricia Eleanor Greenwood, born 1948. She has previous addresses listed in … Continue reading “Erie County Jane Doe Identified as Patricia Greenwood.” →
