James Howard Conklin

For thirty years, he was known only as the Kane County John Doe, a collection of sun-bleached bones found scattered in the rugged terrain of southern Utah. It was not until December 2024 that forensic genetic genealogy gave him back his name: James Howard Conklin. Born in 1950, James was a White male who was last seen alive in May 1988 in the vicinity of Flagstaff, Arizona. For decades, the story of his life and the violent end he met remained a complete mystery, a secret held by the stark landscape where he was found.

The grim discovery was made on February 6, 1994, when hikers stumbled upon a human skull wedged into a rock crevice. The location was remote, about a quarter-mile south of State Road 89 near the small town of Big Water, Utah, in sparsely populated Kane County. As search teams from the Kane County Sheriff's Office scoured the area, more of the story began to emerge. They found additional skeletal remains that had been scattered by scavenging animals and, beneath a juniper tree, a patch of blood-soaked sand, suggesting the man had been killed and dumped at that very spot.

An examination of the remains revealed a brutal death. The skull showed clear evidence of significant blunt force trauma. An anthropologist from the University of Utah determined that the right side of the man’s face had been broken loose from the rest of the skull, the result of a powerful blow or a stomp. The victim was estimated to be around 6 feet tall, between 30 and 55 years old, with brown hair showing a touch of grey. He had rugged facial features and extensive dental work, including a gold filling and a porcelain crown.

Investigators also recovered several personal effects near the body. These included a red baseball cap, a size XL plaid jacket with a blue quilted liner, a red, white, and black plaid flannel shirt, and size 33 blue denim trousers. A pair of Pro Action tennis shoes, size 11 1/2, and shattered sunglasses were also found. Critically, searchers located three faded documents: a jail booking sheet and a court document from Coconino County, Arizona, along with a newspaper clipping listing entertainment events in Flagstaff. These items provided the first tangible link to Arizona, suggesting the victim may have traveled from there before meeting his end.

For three decades, the investigation stalled. The documents were too faded for FBI forensic experts to glean any identifying information. Attempts to extract DNA from the blood-soaked sand were initially unsuccessful with the technology of the time. A forensic artist created a facial reconstruction based on the skull, and the image was released to the public, but no one came forward to identify the man with the rugged features. He was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons (NamUs) database as case UP8514, one of thousands of silent Jane and John Does across the country.

The breakthrough finally came in 2024. Using funding from the Utah Department of Public Safety, the Kane County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Othram Inc., a private lab in Texas specializing in advanced DNA testing. Scientists at Othram successfully developed a comprehensive DNA profile from the degraded forensic evidence. Their in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used this profile to build a family tree, leading investigators to potential relatives. A DNA sample from a possible relative confirmed the John Doe was their father, James Howard Conklin.

As of December 2024, the identification has given James Conklin his name back, but his murder remains an active and unsolved homicide investigation. Authorities with the Kane County Sheriff's Office now have a starting point they were denied for 30 years and are working to piece together the final years, months, and days of James's life. They need to understand who he was with and what circumstances led him from Flagstaff, Arizona, to a desolate spot in southern Utah where his life was violently taken.

Anyone with information about James Howard Conklin, his activities in or after May 1988, or the circumstances surrounding his death is urged to contact the Kane County Sheriff’s Office at (435) 644-2349 or via email at [email protected].