Vietnam War vet was shot, thrown in Michigan river in 1973. He’s now been identified

Fifty years after a Fort Worth native disappeared after he departed Texas for work in Michigan, he has been identified as a murder victim found floating in a river, police say.

Daniel C. Garza-Gonzalez, a veteran of the Vietnam War, was 29 when he left for Flint, Michigan, according to Michigan State Police. It was the last time his parents heard from him.

Through DNA testing, investigators have now determined that a body found floating in the Saginaw River on March 13, 1973, was of Garza-Gonzalez, state police said in a news release on Thursday, Jan. 5.

Garza-Gonzalez had been shot seven times and suffered blunt force trauma to the back of his head, an autopsy revealed.

“The medical examiner suspected he was knocked down, shot and discarded into the river before being discovered by fisherman approximately six weeks later,” according to Michigan State Police.

When the case went cold, he was buried in a grave marked “John Doe” a year after he was found.

With help from the DNA Doe Project, state police sent hair and bone samples to a forensic laboratory in late 2021. The DNA helped investigators find possible relatives.

“The connection linked the unidentified human remains to a family in Beeville, Texas,” according to Michigan State Police. “With the assistance of the Texas Rangers, the family was informed of the possible identification and investigators obtained familial DNA reference samples from several family members that were sent to the FBI DNA lab for comparison.”

The FBI confirmed the victim was Garza-Gonzalez in December, state police said. His remains will be reburied by his family in Texas.

The DNA Doe Project said it was “especially challenging” identifying Garza-Gonzalez, as he is a part of an underrepresented population, especially in genetic databases.

It’s unclear who killed the Fort Worth native.

“Knowing his identity, even nearly 50 years later, is a critically important new lead in this case, and investigators hope it will help them determine who was responsible for his death,” state police said.

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