Cold Case Could be Solved

Harrison County investigators are crossing their fingers, hoping DNA testing from a deceased John Doe in a Texas cemetery will solve a 40 year old cold case. It all started when a cemetery worker did a little research of her own.
It was 1973 and Joseph ‘Joey’ Spears was a 17-year-old runaway. He had escaped from the Harrison County Youth Detention Center and had never been heard of again, nearly forgotten by local investigators until 2013. Harrison County Investigator Bill Scarbrough said, “I answered the phone when Joey’s sister called in 2013 to ask what the status was of that case.”
Joey’s sister also informed Scarbrough that none of Joey’s information was posted online. Investigators added it to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUS, and two years later, there was a bite. A Texas cemetery employee became interested in a John Doe buried the same year of Joey’s disappearance. “She realized that there was an unknown person buried in that cemetery and it bothered her that nobody could identify the youth. He was considered a juvenile. She did a lot of research on her own,” said Scarbrough.
Then she called the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department after typing in physical characteristics of the John Doe online and finding Joey’s name as a match. Investigators jumped on the lead, comparing pictures from the 1973 autopsy with the last pictures they had of Joey. The resemblance was uncanny. “There are a lot of similarities, a lot. His eye color is bright blue. His mother talked about his eyes all the time. His height, his weight, his approximate age, everything has fit,” said Scarbrough.
Enough evidence was there for a court order to exhume the body for DNA testing. “That body was in such good condition that you could have a wake, a viewing for that person after 42 years of being buried,” said Scarbrough.
Now, it’s a waiting game to determine if a deceased John Doe in Texas is Joey Spears. DNA samples have been sent to the University of North Texas. It could take up to four months for results. In the meantime, Scarbrough says he and the victim’s family are hoping for a close to this case.

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