ZILWAUKEE TWP. (WWJ) – Michigan State Police investigators have identified a murder victim found floating in the Saginaw River nearly 50 years ago, thanks to the use of genetic genealogy.
In March 1973 a fisherman found the body floating in the river near M-13 in Zilwaukee Township. But with no ID present, attempts to put a name to the victim through fingerprints and other sources proved fruitless, according to MSP.
An autopsy at the time revealed the victim had been shot seven times and had suffered blunt force trauma to the back of his head.
While the body was buried in a grave marked “John Doe,” five decades later investigators with the MSP Third District Cold Case Team have identified him as Daniel C. Garza-Gonzales, through an FBI DNA database.
Garza-Gonzales, born March 15, 1944, was wounded during the Vietnam War. After serving his country, he left Fort Worth, Texas, at 29 to look for work in Flint, Michigan. His parents never heard from him again, MSP officials said.
Officials say knowing his identity, even 50 years later, is “a critically important new lead in this case, and investigators hope it will help them determine who was responsible for his death.”
Garza-Gonzalez’s remains will be reinterred by his family in Texas.
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At the time of his death, DNA testing wasn’t available. But officials say this is the latest case of forensic genetic genealogy helping to “unlock mysteries and provide families with answers about their loved ones.”
When he was killed, the medical examiner suspected he was knocked down, shot and discarded into the river before being discovered by a fisherman approximately six weeks later.
Within a year, with nothing further for detectives to investigate, he was buried.
In 2020, the MSP Third District Cold Case Team and the MSP Missing Persons Coordination Unit reexamined the case and exhumed the body for advanced DNA testing. The remains were sent to the Michigan State University (MSU) Anthropology unit for reexamination.
In late 2021, with help from the DNA Doe Project, previously obtained hair samples and a new bone sample were sent to Astrea Forensics for forensic genetic genealogy.
Last summer, a possible familial match was located, linking the unidentified human remains to a family in Beeville, Texas. With the help of the Texas Rangers, the family was informed of the possible identification and investigators obtained familial DNA reference samples from several family members that were sent to the FBI DNA lab for comparison.
In December 2022, the FBI confirmed Garza-Gonzales’s identity.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the 1973 murder of Garza-Gonzales to contact D/Sgt. Bill Arndt at 989-615-6257.
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