Summary

On May 4, 1988, human remains were found off County Road 905 in north Key Largo, Florida. The man had been wrapped in three sheets and covered with trash. The man's remains were partially skeletonized. The man could not be identified and details of the case were entered into NamUs as UP6212. His identity was a mystery for nearly four decades.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) working with local law enforcement worked to submit forensic evidence to Othram in hopes that the man could be identified using identity inference, a process that enables investigators to identify individuals from DNA evidence, even when there is no known reference sample to initially compare against.

In May 2025, forensic evidence arrived at Othram's laboratory headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. At Othram, scientists successfully extracted DNA from the provided evidence which was used in Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive SNP profile for the man. This SNP profile powered a forensic search led by FDLE's forensic genetic genealogy team.

A follow-up investigation led investigators to identify the John Doe as 61-year-old Alfonso James Spikes of Miami. Investigators believe that Spikes was last seen in April 1988 in Miami after leaving his residence to meet an unknown individual. The circumstances surrounding how Spikes ultimately ended up in Monroe County are not known.

Individuals who have taken a consumer DNA test can aid ongoing forensic investigations by joining the DNASolves database. Expanding the pool of available DNA data increases the likelihood of successful identifications, helping to reunite families with their missing loved ones and resolve cases that have remained unsolved for years.

This is the 58th publicly announced case in the State of Florida where officials leveraged Othram’s identity inference pipeline. Explore other cases on Othram’s website.