Pittsburgh homicide victim in 1992 cold case identified after DNA "breakthrough"

More than three decades ago, a body was pulled from one of Pittsburgh's rivers. While a man was convicted of third-degree murder, the victim's identity remained unknown until now. 

Allegheny County officials on Wednesday identified the victim as Allan Keener, closing the county's longest unknown decedent cold case. 

Using a $100,000 state grant, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office sent about a dozen cold cases, including Keener's, to the company Othram. After Othram built a comprehensive DNA profile, the medical examiner's office could contact potential family members and get a DNA sample from a living relative, allowing them to finally identify Keener.

Keener's body was found in 1992 in the water between the 9th and 6th street bridges after a witness called 911 to report an assault. The autopsy showed blunt force trauma to the head, though Keener ultimately drowned. 

Pittsburgh police arrested Arthur Wiley, who was tried and convicted of third-degree murder in 1993. While Wiley has since served his sentence, his victim's identity remained unknown. Keener had no known address and was believed to be traveling around the Pittsburgh area. 

"We never give up on our cases," Mandy Tinkey, the laboratory director of the medical examiner's office, said in a press release. "I am thrilled that after decades of looking into leads and trying new technologies, we are able to finally identify Mr. Keener as the decedent from the 1992 homicide. This brings closure to a family that never knew what happened to their loved one."

Calling it a "breakthrough," Pittsburgh Police Chief Jason Lando said Keener had been nameless for far too long.

"By utilizing new technologies such as these, our hope is to continue to give the families of crime victims the much-needed answers they have waited for and deserve," Lando said in a news release.