Victim of 1961 Wreck in Bibb County Finally Identified Using DNA
Officials say a young hitchhiker who died in a car crash in Bibb County in 1961 and was buried in a grave marked “UNKNOWN” has finally been identified through DNA testing.
Killed when a vehicle from which he’d accepted a ride crashed and plunged into a river, the hitchhiker didn’t have any identification.
Community members raised money for his burial, and a tombstone was engraved with the date of the wreck: March 27, 1961.
Coroner CW West says a team of genealogists using DNA from the body confirmed the remains to be those of 15-year-old Daniel Paul “Danny” Armantrout. They’ve contacted a surviving brother who plans to come to Alabama.
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