Body identified 31 years after being found as missing Virginia man

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Police say they now know the identity of a man who was found dead in 1993 near the Clearwater Pass bridge in Florida. 

What we know:

On Nov. 29, 1993, a man’s body was found floating in the water near the east side of the bridge leading to Sand Key.

Police said a neatly folded pile of clothing was found on the shoreline near a lifeguard stand on Clearwater Beach, but there was no identification among the clothing or on the body.

An autopsy was inconclusive in the manner and cause of death, but foul play was not suspected. The medical examiner's office said the victim was a white male between the ages of 60 and 80, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 118 pounds, with short gray hair and blue eyes.

More than three decades later, police worked with the medical examiner's office and Moxxy Forensic Investigations to identify the body. 

Additional samples of the victim's DNA were submitted for testing in concert with investigative genetic genealogy.

Police say that several months of genealogical analysis by nine genealogists developed various connections between the unidentified man and a couple from the mid-18th century who were living in Bristol, England. 

Eventually, the team developed a candidate for the identity of the man. The next of kin, a son of the candidate, was contacted and a buccal swab was collected for comparative purposes. This swab was compared to the profile of the unidentified man, which determined that the relationship between the two was that of a parent-child relationship and the man was identified as Edman Eric Gleed.

Gleed was 84 years old when he died. His son, who is now 94, had reported him missing in Fairfax County, Virginia.

On Monday morning, Clearwater police detectives spoke with the man's son, who now lives in North Carolina.

What we don't know:

It is unclear why Gleed was in Clearwater at the time of his disappearance. 

What they're saying:

"Almost immediately, we observed that all of the DNA matches were either living in or recent immigrants from England, which was quite unexpected for a person found in Pinellas County, Florida," said Kaycee Connelly, the Moxxy team lead for the case. "Our team of volunteer genealogists uncovered numerous ancestors from various parts of England, stretching back to the mid-1700s, to connect the DNA matches with one another. Because of recent immigration and the estimated age range of the man at the time of his death, we were looking for very distant connections."

"We are happy that we are able to provide the family some answers and some closure as to what happened with their loved one," said Michael Walek, deputy chief for Clearwater Police. "And we're grateful to the medical examiner's office and Moxxy Forensic Investigations for helping us get those answers."

"This case has been close to the hearts of everyone on the team," said Ed Adams, the Moxxy team assistant for the case. "We are all honored to have played a part in returning Edman Gleed to his family."