Human bones found 15 years ago near the Hoover Dam belonged to a Michigan man.

MOHAVE COUNTY, Arizona. — Human bones found 15 years ago by workers pouring cement near the Hoover Dam have finally been identified as the bones of a Michigan man.

Bones discovered

This story began on November 11, 2009. Workers were contracted to pour cement for the Highway 93 widening project in Arizona.

They took a break at mile marker 3 near the Hoover Dam. While they were standing on the west side of the highway, one of the workers saw what appeared to be a bone, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.

The two men walked around the area and found more bones. They thought they looked like human bones and told the boss about it.

When the chief called National Park Service agents, the traffic cop called sheriff’s deputies.

Agents and construction workers searched the area further and found more bones, a pair of sun-bleached jeans, a damaged white towel, a sun-bleached red T-shirt, one black boot and a green sleeping bag, officials said.

During another search a few days later, officials said they found more remains.

All items were sent to the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office, but despite an investigation that lasted for years, no matches were found.

DNA tests don’t work

On February 2, 2022, a detective obtained one of the bone samples from the medical examiner and sent it to the Arizona DPS laboratory for DNA profiling. He wanted to enter it into the combined DNA indexing system to identify the person.

Another sample was sent to the University of North Texas, where the extracted DNA sample was stored for analysis and identification.

But the person’s identity has not yet been established.

Business financing

In April 2024, investigators learned that a genetics laboratory in Texas had received grant funding to pay for forensic genealogy testing in the case.

An extract from the University of North Texas sample was sent to a lab to create a DNA profile and upload it to a genealogy database.

Ancestors identified

Earlier this month (October 2024), investigators learned that the bones belonged to a person descended from ancestors born in the mid-1800s and living in Michigan.

Officials interviewed possible relatives and learned they had not seen their brother, William Herman Hietamaki, since he visited his sister in New Mexico in 1995.

The last thing his siblings knew, Hietamaki was traveling throughout the southwestern United States.

Positive identification

Those conversations prompted officials to conduct background testing on Hietamaki’s siblings, which confirmed his remains were found in 2009, according to authorities.

Hietamaki was born on April 4, 1950 and lived with his family in Trout Creek, Michigan.

He attended high school in Michigan and after graduation attended mechanic school.

He left the state to travel. Hietamaki was known for hitchhiking and living a “nomadic lifestyle,” officials said.

Medical examiners were unable to determine his cause of death, but believe he died between 2006 and 2008.