"John Doe" in 45-year-old Maryland cold case identified as Baltimore man

A body that was found on the side of a Maryland highway in 1981 has been identified as a Baltimore man, providing some answers in a 45-year-old cold case, according to the nonprofit organization DNA Doe Project. 

John Doe was identified as 24-year-old Edward "Eddie" Octavis Devone, a Baltimore native who was last seen by his family in the late 1970s, the organization said. 

His body was found wrapped in a blanket along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway on August 3, 1981, by U.S. Park Police. 

At the time, investigators determined that Devone was 15 to 25 years old, weighed about 106 pounds, and was 5' 2", the DNA Doe Project said. Police reported that he had severely deformed teeth with odd lengths and gaps. 

Investigators have not determined the cause of his death. 

Investigating a cold case

In October 2024, U.S. Park Police exhausted traditional methods to identify John Doe and asked for help from the DNA Doe Project, which uses genetic genealogists to identify unknown people. 

During their testing, the organization found that the man's DNA showed he had connections in North Carolina. The investigation eventually led to a family from the Fayetteville area of North Carolina. 

"We identified a couple from North Carolina as great-grandparents of the unidentified man, so we knew that one of their children had to be his grandparent," team leader Matthew Waterfield said in a statement. "But when we couldn't find him among their descendants, we realized that something didn't add up – it was like a branch of their family was missing."

North Carolina connections 

The investigation led U.S. Park Police to visit Fayetteville to meet with members of the family. 

The conversation revealed that, in the 1920s, a young girl had been adopted out of the family and moved to Baltimore. She kept little contact with her biological family in North Carolina, the organization said. 

Eventually, the organization's investigative team, along with Park Police, discovered that the woman who moved to Baltimore had a grandson named Eddie Devone, born in 1956. 

Investigators spoke with Devone's siblings, who said they had not seen Devone in more than 50 years. They were able to provide a photo of him as a child. 

The organization conducted more DNA testing and confirmed in December 2025 that John Doe was Eddie Devone.