A 32-year-old homicide investigation got a boost this month when authorities used DNA to identify the victim.
Armed with the name Howard Hardin, Knox County Sheriff's Office detectives can resume the probe of a murder that occurred in 1981, according to Officer Amy Dobbs.
Hardin, 30, had been reported missing in 1981 to the Knoxville Police Department by his girlfriend. Hardin lived at an apartment on Linden Avenue and had no arrest history.
Hardin's remains were found Jan. 12, 1982, in an area off Clear Springs Road and Arnold Lane. The property owner found the remains under some brush although attempts had been made to conceal the body.
"A forensic examination of the remains showed that the victim had been shot in the head, execution style, with a small caliber pistol," according to the Sheriff's Office.
Without a name of the victim, authorities had little to pursue in the investigation.
Hardin's relatives saw a February story in the News Sentinel about Dobbs' efforts to identify remains and thought the age-regressed picture developed by scientists resembled their missing loved one. The family contact Dobbs, who took buccal swabs of the inside of their cheeks to collect DNA samples.
The relatives samples were sent to the University of North Texas Human Identification Center to compare with DNA from the slaying victim's femur bone, Dobbs said. The University of Tennessee anthropology department maintained the bones.
Dobbs said on April 8 she "got notification that it was a perfect match."
Dobbs said Hardin's relatives, who do not want to be identified, are shocked and sad about the revelation.
"They had a whole host of emotions," Dobbs said. "They are grieving at the moment. To learn he was the victim of a homicide was a shock."
Anyone with information about Hardin's death or wishing to contact Dobbs about a missing friend or loved one can call 865-215-2243.
More details as they develop online and in Wednesday's News Sentinel.
Copyright 2013 - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
