Chilly Case Activity Power helps determine lacking Monterey County fisherman from Nineteen Nineties

A joint-agency effort together with the Monterey County District Legal professional’s Workplace Chilly Case Activity Power, the Sheriff’s Workplace Coroner Division and a family tree lab referred to as Othram helped determine the stays of a person who was misplaced at sea in 1997.

The stays have been recognized as Jeffrey Lyndon Hulliger, born Might 30, 1960. Hulliger was 36 years previous when he disappeared at sea alongside his buddy and boatmate Greg Mitchell throughout a fishing journey off the coast of Moss Touchdown on January 14, 1997.

In October 2021, a business fishing vessel recovered partial skeletal stays ensnared in a internet offshore. The physique was clothed in a one-piece fleece garment, probably an under-layer for a dry-suit or emergency survival swimsuit. There was no identification, simply 5 keys and two cash.

The stays have been transferred to the Monterey County Sheriff-Coroner’s Division, the place the preliminary forensic evaluation discovered the deceased particular person was a male, probably 35 to 50 years previous, between 5 toes 8 inches tall and 6-3 in top. The case was entered into the Nationwide Lacking and Unidentified Individuals System, however no matches have been discovered. With no identification and no leads, the case went chilly.

In 2022, the Chilly Case Activity Power opted to strive superior DNA evaluation and despatched a pattern to Othram, a forensic genetic family tree lab in Texas that has labored with the county earlier than.

From there, a viable DNA profile was created and used to develop investigative leads. Investigators discovered potential family members, carried out follow-up interviews and confirmed a familial match by means of reference DNA testing.

Hulliger and Mitchell had been aboard a vessel referred to as The Salmon Patty after they radioed a misery name, reporting they have been taking over water close to a analysis buoy about 12 miles offshore. The Coast Guard launched an in depth search, and even discovered particles from the vessel, together with a survival swimsuit and life preserver, however no our bodies have been ever recovered. Right this moment, Mitchell stays lacking.

Hulliger’s physique had been in Monterey Bay for twenty-four years earlier than being found, incomes him the nickname “The Ancient Mariner,” a nod to the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem a few lone sailor’s lengthy and harrowing journey at sea.

Initially Printed: July 10, 2025 at 9:03 AM PDT