Southern California authorities have identified an 18-year-old passenger who died in a 1978 car crash, nearly 50 years after the incident. The victim, Mark Alan Smith, was a passenger in a Volkswagen Beetle that lost control on Arlington Avenue in Riverside on June 2, 1978.
The vehicle was traveling westbound when it crossed the center divider and collided with an oncoming sport utility vehicle. Four of the five teenage passengers in the Beetle died in the crash. The driver, who was the sole survivor, told investigators at the time that he had met one of the deceased passengers only the day before and knew little about him. The other three victims were identified shortly after the crash, but the identity of the mystery teen remained unknown for decades.
Investigators from the Riverside Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau were able to identify Smith using cutting-edge forensic genetic genealogy techniques. The breakthrough came after Smith’s body was exhumed, allowing for new forensic analysis. According to authorities, the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Missing and Unidentified Human Remains grant program provided the necessary resources for the exhumation, while the non-profit GenGenies funded the forensic genetic genealogy work.
Smith was identified as a native of Kansas. It is currently unknown if he had relocated to Riverside or was visiting the area at the time of the crash. A photograph circulated by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office shows a smiling young man with blond hair. "Together, these efforts have finally given Mark Smith’s family the closure they have long awaited," said Lieutenant Deirdre Vickers, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Sheriff.
