New DNA link reveals mystery jawbone belongs to mariner killed in boating tragedy off NSW North Coast in 1979
New DNA link reveals mystery jawbone
A jawbone found washed up on the far NSW North Coast has been found to be that of a mariner lost at sea in a boating tragedy more than forty years ago.
The jawbone was discovered washed up on Kingscliff Beach near the NSW-Queensland border on September 24, 2011, prompting an extensive investigation by NSW police and the forensic arm of NSW Health Pathology.
For nine years, the bone was one of dozens of unidentified remains on the Missing Persons Registry, with repeated searches on DNA databases failing to find a match.
But in August last year, a familial DNA search by NSW Health Pathology turned up a possible link to a biological relative.
Familial DNA searching uses complex technology to find potential relatives who have provided their DNA to an existing database.
The closer the biological relationship, the greater the chance that a relative will be found.
The new link lead investigators to a 34-year-old man imprisoned in Goulburn jail, whose DNA had been added to a database for convicted offenders in NSW.
An investigation by Marine Area Command and the Missing Person’s Registry confirmed the inmate was the nephew of Willian John Moran, who was lost at sea in 1979.
The then-24-year-old was one of five crew on board the cabin cruiser Nocturne 1 off Evans Head late on September 23, 1979, when it became caught in a gale.
Facing 100km/h winds and 10-metre high seas, the boat had to be abandoned before it sunk in the early hours of the following morning.
Three crew members – including Bill’s sister-in-law and her husband, Maria and Ray Moran – were saved in a daring helicopter rescue.
