FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - A pedestrian fatally struck by a car 22 years ago in Navajo County finally has been identified as a Flagstaff man missing since 1994.
Coconino County Sheriff’s officials say its Cold Case Unit solved the missing person case last week.
They say 19-year-old Brian Nez was last seen by his family in July 1994. However, he wasn’t reported missing until three months later.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety couldn’t identify a pedestrian killed in August 1994 near Winslow, but nobody made the connection between the cases.
Sheriff’s investigators entered Nez into the national computer database used by law enforcement and his case went cold for decades.
The Cold Case Unit reopened Nez’s case last March. Sheriff’s officials say Nez was identified through fingerprints taken when he was 7.
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