Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said he has received notification from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory that the body exhumed on Feb. 8 from LaFayette Cemetery is not the remains of a missing Miami of Ohio University student, Ronald Tammen Jr.
Tammen was reported missing in April 1953 from Miami of Ohio University in Oxford, Ohio, according to the sheriff.
In January 2008, Walker County detectives began comparing Tammen’s disappearance with an unidentified body found in the Walnut Grove Community in June 1953. Many striking similarities led authorities to exhume the unidentified body.
The remains were taken to the GBI Crime Laboratory in Atlanta, where testing and research have been ongoing.
Mitochondrial DNA was successfully identified from the remains and compared to Tammen’s sibling. The comparison was negative.
According to Sheriff Wilson, “All of us involved in this investigation are disappointed that the remains were not identified as Ronald Tammen Jr. However, we remain optimistic that one day an identification will be made since Mitocondrial DNA was captured from the remains.
“Our hearts go out to the Tammen family who have been searching for answers concerning their loved one for 55 years.”
Sheriff Wilson said he encourages anyone who may know of someone who went missing in May or June 1953, and was never located to call the Walker County Sheriff's Office, Detective Division at 706-638-1909.
The unidentified body was found on West Rogers Road, Walnut Grove Community, on June 25, 1953.
The body was described as follows:
white male with dark hair and medium complexion, 25-30 year old, 5'9" and 155–160 pounds.
The body was clothed in a size 38 t-shirt, size 32 underwear with drawstrings and GI socks.
GBI Anthropologist Dr. Frederick (Rick) Snow and Georgia’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Kris Sperry, worked closely with Walker County Sheriff's Office and Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office authorities in this investigation.