Remains of Missing Campbell County Man Identified 40 Years After Discovery

Authorities in Florida have finally identified the remains of a homicide victim almost four decades after they were discovered, revealing that they belong to Terry Ketron, a long-missing man from Campbell County. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office made this significant breakthrough in a recent news release on December 27.

Back in January 1985, a group of children playing near a canal bank stumbled upon Terry Ketron’s remains in a densely wooded area. The discovery prompted a homicide investigation, but despite entering Ketron’s DNA into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System database, no matches were found. Over time, the case went cold as investigators exhausted all leads.

However, advancements in forensic investigative genetic genealogy allowed officials to revisit the case. In 2022, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office sent Ketron’s skeletal remains to Othram Inc., a renowned biotechnology research company based in Texas. Othram utilized these remains to build a comprehensive DNA profile, which was instrumental in a genealogical search to produce new leads for investigators to pursue, as stated in a news release by the company.

Through a subsequent investigation and kinship match, it was confirmed that the remains indeed belonged to Terry Ketron, who would have been 31 years old at the time of their discovery. Ketron had left Kentucky and traveled to south Florida in the early ’80s, accompanied by a woman known only as “Connie” or “Bonnie,” whose last name remains unknown.

According to officials, Ketron had spoken to his family over the phone prior to his disappearance, mentioning troubles with his girlfriend and her family. Since then, his whereabouts had remained a mystery.

In an effort to bring closure to the case, investigators are now seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the woman who accompanied Ketron to Florida, as well as any other friends or associates he may have had during his time there.

If you have any information that could aid in this ongoing investigation, please reach out to Detective John Cogburn at 561-688-4063 or via email at CogburnJ@pbso.org.