DNA evidence helps Barrington Hills police ID victim in grisly 1979 death

Forty-four years after parts of a dismembered corpse were discovered in a grassy area in Barrington Hills, authorities on Wednesday announced they have a name to go with the remains.

Investigators used DNA and forensic genealogy to identify the remains as those of 27-year-old Joseph A. Caliva, police said in a news release. The announcement didn’t say where Caliva lived at the time he was killed, and a department spokesman couldn’t be reached.

The partially charred remains were found Aug. 5, 1979, by someone riding a horse along Old Dundee Road. A torso and two severed legs were recovered, police said. The head and arms never have been located.

Police believe Caliva was killed somewhere else and his remains left where they were found. Unable to identify the victim at the time, the case eventually went cold.

But in 2023, Barrington Hills police sent evidence to Othram, a Texas company that specializes in testing forensic DNA evidence and identifying crime victims. That work led investigators to determine the remains being Caliva.

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