Human remains found near Hoover Dam in 2009 identified as Michigan man last seen in 1995

(CBS DETROIT) – Human remains found near the Hoover Dam in 2009 have been identified as those of a Michigan man last seen by his family in 1995. 

In November 2009, construction crews were on break while working on a cement project on Highway 93 at Milepost 3 near the Hoover Dam when they found what appeared to be a bone, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said. 

The workers looked around the area and found additional bones that they believed were human. Construction workers and National Park Service agents searched the area and found additional bones, a sun-bleached pair of blue jeans, a damaged white towel, a sun-bleached red t-shirt, a black athletic shoe and a green sleeping bag. A second search days later found additional remains. 

Mohave County Sheriff’s detectives continued the search for years to generate leads but without any results. 

In February 2022, a Mohave County Sheriff’s detective obtained a bone sample from the victim and sent it to the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s lab in hopes of identifying the man. A sample was also sent to the University of North Texas, where it was stored for analysis, but an identification was not made. 

Two years would go by before Othram, a genetic lab in Texas, received grant funding in April 2024 to pay for forensic genetic genealogy for this case. Using the sample from the University of North Texas, Ortham created a DNA profile and uploaded that profile to a genealogy database for investigation.

In October, investigators received a report that the man was a descendant of ancestors born in the mid-1800s and lived in Michigan. Detectives interviewed the brother of the man, who was identified as William Herman Hietamaki. Siblings interviewed say Hietamaki went by his middle name, Herman, and had been traveling the southwest United States when he was last seen in 1995. 

Hietamaki was born on April 4, 1950, and grew up in Trout Creek in the western Upper Peninsula. He attended high school and mechanic’s school in Michigan. 

According to officials, Hietamaki left Michigan shortly after graduating from high school and was known to hitchhike and live a nomadic lifestyle. His family last saw him while visiting his sister in New Mexico in 1995. Public records show Hietamaki resided in Las Vegas at one time, and he was known to suffer from epileptic seizures.

The medical examiner’s office was unable to determine Hietamaki’s cause of death but estimated that he died between 2006 and 2008.