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Tymon Joseph Emily

On March 7^th, 1992, workers were removing gas pipelines at an abandon warehouse in St. Louis, Missouri. This cleanup was made more difficult due to a fire in the past. During this time a few people noticed something jammed underneath nearby storage lockers. Upon further inspection the workers found an entire human skeleton, and a pile of clothes. After their discovery, the workers immediately reported it to the police, where St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department recovered the remains for investigation. Finding deep stab wounds on the left side of the ribcage. After thirty-two years of research and investigations, the skeleton was finally identified, as all of the DNA evidence proving T.J. Emily as the victim. However, the suspect has never been identified, nor has there even been possible leads for T.J.'s killer.

Computer-generated image of T.J. Emily, (Provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). 2021.

T.J. Emily was reported as "missing", on March 25th, 1990. On account of his mother and father, he supposedly was on his way to his uncle's house, and he never arrived. The warehouse where the skeleton was found, was near the path Emily was suspected of taking. He was described as a sweet and respectful young man, who was not suspected to have conflicts with anyone. Therefore, his family had no possible ideas as to who their sons killer was.

Initial Investigations

St. Louis Metropolitan Police were dispatched to the scene and recovered the remains for investigation. During the first few phases of inspection, investigators drew DNA for analysis, and determined the skeleton belonged to a Caucasian male. But there were no matches to identify the skeleton within their systems. Investigators also presumed that the body had been in the building for at least 2 years, being that it was skeletonized. Some theorized the reason the building was burned, was an attempt by the criminal to destroy evidence. However, further inspection showed no burn or charred bone, despite the building fire. Investigators also found deep stab marks on the left side of the ribcage. Ruling the case a homicide. Yet there was no evidence of a weapon in the building, or in the nearby shrubbery. Leaving police with no clue as to who may have killed, and how T.J. made it so far off his path to begin with. Upon further inspection, investigators had trouble giving the man an age, ranging the victim as young as fifteen and as old as thirty-five. Leaving way too many possible IDs for the victim. The clothes he was found with, were a black rain jacket, blue zip-up hoodie, two different shirts, one white with a “Myrtle Beach” logo, and the other being a plain pink shirt. The pockets of his clothing did not contain any personal belongings or identification. Subsequently, without any leads or techniques to possibly identify the victim, the case closed.

Case Re-Opened

Over the years, detectives received many leads from the public. However, none matched the dental records or any other possible identifiable tests. In 2004, a DNA profile was developed which was later uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), to be used by law enforcement. However, Detective Heather Sabin, of the SLMPD, would find no matches. In 2010, the case was entered into the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, (NCMEC). Which would launch another investigation that would last ten years. With the assistance of the NCMEC, the SLMPD, reached out to the DNADoe Project for further assistance. With hopes the DNADoe Project could have a DNA match for the victim. Reevaluating the evidence, genealogists and detectives suspected that the victim may actually be an African American male. Closer in age to fifteen, than thirty-five. However, they still could not confirm. Further research presented possible African American candidates. But these findings were quickly retracted as further investigation found that the victim may actually be Caucasian, as originally believed. They did believe the victim was still closer in age, despite the change. The case would be under investigation until 2020. However, with no further findings or leads, the case was closed again.

Computer-generated image of the victim. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. 2004.

Where The Case Stands Now

Most recent image of T.J. Emily, taken around 1989. Given to the DNADoe Project by his parents.

The case was reopened in 2021 by DNADoe Project's Investigative Genealogists, Tracie Boyle. Boyle would collaborate with Detective Sabin of the SLMPD, trying to gather any evidence, DNA samples or any other information that could lead them to a possible match. Once they retrieved samples from outside resources, they did not take long to construct a family tree of the Emily's. Identifying T.J. grandfather and a few distant cousins. They would comment on the difficulty of the case, saying, "It is like trying to solve a mystery within a mystery". But in March of 2022, Boyle would find a match for the skeleton. Finally identifying the stab victim as eighteen-year old, Tymon Joseph Emily. Detective Sabin would be the one to break the news to his family. Those who remained were his brother, Curtis Emily. Boyle and Sabin were able to make this breakthrough with the assistance of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The SLMPD administered citizens to use an at-home DNA kit. Those kits were then collected by police and uploaded to DNADoe Project's genealogy database. They found patterns through ancestry that were able to shave down the selection. Within a week of receiving the data, Boyle and Sabin were able to identify him. “We were amazed,” Boyle said. “We came back, I want to say it was a week or so after we got the kit. We were able to identify him”

With the successful identification, Detective Sabin and other investigators can now use that information to find new possible leads, and hopefully find T.J.'s killer. They can start to investigate the people he knew and would hang around, places he would frequent and other information into T.J.'s life. These details can provide information to any possible people who may have wanted to hurt T.J., or if he got involved in the wrong crowd. Any information now surrounding T.J. and his life prior to going missing, can assist in the solving of the ongoing murder investigation. None-the-less, while the victim has been successfully identified, the identity of the killer is still a mystery. Leaving the case unsolved, and investigations still in progress to this day.