A DECADES-OLD mystery surrounding the identity of a man found dead in the USA has been solved – and it comes back to Somerset.
In November 1993, a man was found dead off the coast of Clearwater, Florida. His body was discovered floating in the Gulf of Mexico, near the east side of the Clearwater Pass Bridge.
Emergency services in the US said he was declared deceased at the scene, and a subsequent investigation uncovered neatly folded clothing on the shoreline near a lifeguard tower at the south end of Clearwater Beach, believed to possibly belong to the deceased man.
While an autopsy proved to be inconclusive in determining the manner and cause of death, foul play was not suspected – but he could not be identified, and became known simply as ‘Pinellas County John Doe 1993’. Experts said the body belonged to a white man, aged between 60 and 80, who stood around 5ft 4inches tall, weighed 118 pounds, and had blue eyes with short grey hair.
Despite appeals at the time, no one came forward with information about his identity – and it remained that way for more than three decades.
Clothes believed to belong to the dead man were found folded on Clearwater Beach. Picture: Google
Then, in recent months, a renewed effort took place to find some answers in the case, with genetics experts Moxxy Forensic Investigations assisting the Clearwater Police Department in a bid to finally identify the dead man.
They created a DNA profile of the unidentified man, which was uploaded to GEDmatch Pro, a DNA database that allows members of the public to share their DNA to be utilized in law enforcement cases.
And what they found shocked investigators.
Kaycee Connelly, team lead for the case, said: “Almost immediately, we observed that all of the DNA matches were either living in or recent immigrants from England, which was quite unexpected for a person found in Pinellas County, Florida.
“Our team of volunteer genealogists uncovered numerous ancestors from various parts of England, stretching back to the mid-1700s, to connect the DNA matches with one another. Because of recent immigration and the estimated age range of the man at the time of his death, we were looking for very distant connections.”
Work continued, with months of genealogical analysis by nine experts finding various connections to the unidentified man, including a couple from the mid-18th century that were living in Bristol, England.
Eventually, the team was able to develop a candidate for the identity of the man – and contacted their next of kin.
That was a son of the candidate, who was contacted and a buccal swab collected for comparative purposes.
This swab was compared to the profile of the unidentified man, which determined that the relationship between the two was that of a parent-child relationship.
Pinellas County John Doe 1993 has been positively identified as Edman Eric Gleed, born July 29, 1909, making him 84 at the time of his death.
The body has been identified as that of Edman Eric Gleed – more than 30 years after he passed away. Picture: Moxxy
Gleed was a second-generation immigrant, with both of his parents relocating from their ceremonial counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire, England, to the United States.
He was last seen on November 27, 1993, after leaving the home he shared with his son in Falls Church, Virginia.
A missing persons report was filed by his son in Fairfax County, Virginia, shortly after his disappearance.
And the discovery has brought some closure to the case, not only for the Gleed family, but for the officers involved over decades.
“This case has been close to the hearts of everyone on the team,” said Ed Adams, the team assistant for the case.
“We are all honoured to have played a part in returning Edman Gleed to his family.”
A Moxxy Forensic Investigations spokesperson thanked Intermountain Forensics for their “invaluable assistance in this case”, as well as “everyone who contributed by uploading to GEDmatch, the relatives who willingly offered their support, and Sergeant Michael Beavers along with the Clearwater Police Department for placing their trust in us to help identify Edman Eric Gleed”.
A slight error in account, Edman Eric Gleed was not a second-generation immigrant to the U.S, nor were any of his three older brothers and a sister.
Only the parents immigrated from England . EE Gleed was born in Kingston, NH in 19.09. Very grateful to Moxxy for findng out about my dad after 32 years. E J Gleed, oldest son with whom he lived