Missing Man’s Murder Solved After 29 Years — His Sister Learned the Truth Just Two Days Before Her Death

For nearly three decades, a family lived with the painful uncertainty of not knowing what happened to their missing loved one. Now, a breakthrough in DNA technology has finally identified a Florida man whose remains lay unidentified for almost 30 years — and the news reached his sister just two days before she died.

John Richard Moulis, 37, disappeared from the Orlando area in January 1997. His family had no idea where he had gone or whether he was still alive. On March 24 of that year, two people walking their dog discovered skeletal remains in a wooded area near Fulton Street and Mangoustine Avenue in Sanford, Florida. At the time, investigators were unable to identify the man, leaving the case unresolved for decades.

A medical examiner determined that the remains belonged to a man who had suffered sharp-force injuries to the head and ruled the death a homicide. However, with no identification found alongside the body, detectives faced the difficult task of determining who the victim was and how he had died. For years, his identity remained a mystery, and his family continued to wonder what had happened to him.

The investigation gained new momentum in 2023, when authorities submitted a tooth from the remains for DNA testing. Although investigators obtained a DNA profile, it did not produce a match in the national database. In 2025, funding allowed the team to pursue more advanced forensic testing. Bone samples were sent to Texas-based laboratory Othram, which developed a DNA profile that investigators used to conduct forensic genetic genealogy.

The breakthrough finally came in the summer of 2026. Investigators identified a possible close relative in July, and further DNA comparisons confirmed on August 31 that the remains belonged to Moulis. According to PEOPLE, the identification came just two days before his sister — his closest surviving relative — died. She had spent much of her life wondering what had happened to her brother, and investigators were able to give her that long-awaited answer shortly before her death.

Moulis originally came from Wisconsin and moved to the Orlando area around 1986 or 1987. He lived at the Ridge Club Apartments and worked in janitorial services at Splendid China in Kissimmee. After he disappeared, his burgundy-and-brown 1986 Dodge Aries station wagon was found abandoned at a Greyhound bus station in Orlando. That detail remains one of the clues investigators have revisited as they try to reconstruct his final days.

Although Moulis has finally been identified, the case is far from over. Police have not yet determined who killed him or why. Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith said the identification gave the family information they had desperately sought for 29 years, while investigators now focus on discovering what happened to Moulis and who was responsible for his death.

Authorities are asking anyone who knew Moulis, worked with him or lived at his apartment complex in the mid-1990s to come forward. Tips can be directed to the Sanford Police Department at 407-688-5070 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477). After nearly three decades of unanswered questions, investigators hope that someone may still hold the missing piece that could finally solve his killing.

Source: PEOPLE