Glenn Powers (Quincy John Doe)

Case background and investigation

On March 21, 1991, a person walking through a wooded area near 270 Quarry Street in Quincy, Massachusetts, came upon a shallow grave containing human skeletal remains. The site, since developed, is close to what are now the Sgt. Robert Allen Curry and Michael G. Therrien athletic fields. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the man had died of blunt force trauma and ruled the death a homicide. According to local reporting on the case, the remains were estimated to have been in the ground for at least six months.

Investigators could not establish who the man was, and for 35 years the case was carried as an unidentified homicide victim. It was eventually taken up by a Massachusetts State Police trooper from the Unresolved Case Unit assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney's Office, working with Quincy police.

On October 30, 2026, Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey announced that the remains had been identified as Glenn Powers, a 1970 graduate of Randolph High School. The identification came through forensic genetic genealogy, which pairs advanced DNA sequencing with traditional family-tree research. Local reports said the genealogical work was done by the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College of New Jersey, that a reference sample from a sibling confirmed the match in October 2026, and that Powers was born around 1951, which would have made him about 40 at the time of his death.

Authorities have not said when Powers was last seen, whether he was ever reported missing, or how he came to be buried in Quincy. No suspect has been named and no one has been charged. "We never forget a victim, no matter how much time goes by," Morrissey said, adding that his office is committed to finding the person or people responsible. Anyone with information is asked to call the State Police tip line at the Norfolk District Attorney's Office at 781-830-4990, Quincy police at 617-745-5768, or the State Police Unresolved Case Unit at 1-855-627-6583.