Fire fatality identified as 30-year-old father after 32 years

A man found burning in an abandoned boat in a field has been identified 30 years after his death, the Weber County Sheriff’s Office announced in a report. Monday November 4 video.

Kevin Lynn Capps, 30, was identified as the man who died of “suspicious circumstances” in a field near I-15 in Ogden, Utah on April 16, 1992. Ogden is located 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.

When authorities arrived on the scene in 1992, they saw the burning field with a boat also engulfed in flames. There was a man’s body in the boat, but it was “unrecognizable” and there were no personal items nearby to help identify the deceased.

An autopsy later revealed that the victim was a man between 30 and 45 years old. Although his gender and age were estimated, he remained unidentified for more than 30 years, despite authorities’ attempts to match the victim’s dental records and DNA.

After the case remained unsolved for 32 years, the WCSO formed the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force to bring new perspectives and insights to long-unsolved cases.

The Utah Department of Public Safety funded the collaboration with the assigned investigators Othram Inc.a forensic genetic genealogy company, to implement advanced DNA testing.

CEO and founder of Othram Inc., David Mittelman, tells PEOPLE exclusively that the company used forensic genome sequencing for Capps’ case. The sequencing allows analysis of evidence that “has historically been considered not good enough for testing,” Mittelman explains.

This is used in CODIS, a technology that creates DNA profiles to identify people. However, CODIS typically finds twenty DNA markers on human remains. When used in conjunction with forensic genome sequencing for Capps’ remains, CODIS found approximately 500,000 DNA markers.

Othram Inc. received the skeletal remains and about four to six weeks later the DNA profile was made. From there, the team used the DNA markers to find family members and continue the investigation.

“It only took weeks for us to get an answer because there were quite a few matches in the genealogical databases,” he says. “That’s why you have a case… that already has an answer.”

The investigative team also discovered that Capps was survived by his 4-year-old daughter, Chelsea LaRoe, at the time. She was informed of the news on August 12, 2024, a day she said “changed everything.”

LaRoe, now 36, lived her life believing her father had “abandoned” her.

“It left me sad, angry and full of questions,” she said in the WCSO video. She explained that hearing about her father’s death gave her some closure.

“The day after I heard about Kevin, my mother and I went to the cemetery in Ogden, where he was buried in an unmarked grave,” she said, adding that she will be “forever grateful to the detectives who worked on this case.” have helped. .”

Anyone with information about the case and the circumstances leading to Capps’ death is asked to contact emergency services at 801-778-6646.

Want to stay up to date with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime Newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Representatives for the Weber County Sherrif’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Wednesday.