James Francis Williams of Grand Haven, Michigan, died after a train struck him in 1980 in Berea. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office used new technology to identify him Friday.Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office
BEREA, Ohio — For nearly four decades, Louie Williams took trips to major cities throughout the country searching the crowds for his missing brother.
But on Friday, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office identified James “Jim” Francis Williams as the man killed by a train Nov. 14, 1980 in Berea.
While the news dashed Louis Williams’ hopes of seeing his long-lost brother alive, it did bring some closure to him and his family.
“All those years, my whole family, we never knew what happened to him,” said Williams, who now lives in California. “It was a big relief to finally find out.”
Louie Williams, 68, lost touch with his brother — an alcoholic and drifter — in 1974.
Jim Williams — who would have been 35 years old in 1980 — might have been drinking the night he died, Louie Williams said.
“I believe he was in a blackout when that happened,” said Louie Williams, who also struggled with alcohol and drugs but has been sober since 1981.
Jim Williams was part Odawa and part Chippewa Native American. He grew up in Michigan with two brothers and six sisters, his brother said. Louie Williams said he would sometimes drink with his older brother, but the two didn’t develop much of a bond.
When Jim Williams was 17, the brothers stole a car and drove to Indiana. The incident landed Jim Williams in prison, but Louie Williams — who was just 13 at the time — got a slap on the wrist, he said.
That arrest proved critical to identifying Jim Williams’ body, investigators said.
In 1980, investigators used fingerprints and released information to local media in an attempt to identify the man. But new technology helped the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s DNA Parentage and Identification Department — which routinely investigates cold cases – linked those fingerprints to Williams this year.
The fingerprints led investigators to an old Grand Haven, Michigan arrest report that named the Williams brothers as suspects. Grand Haven detectives knew the man killed in Berea might be Native American so they contacted detective Sgt. Mike Pins of the Sault Tribe Police Department, which provides enforcement for the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
Pins searched Native American tribal rolls, then used traditional law enforcement databases to track down Louie Williams last month.
He gathered information on Jim Williams through phone calls and developed a friendship with his brother.
“I talk to Louie about once a week now,” Pins said. “We just call and chat.”
Louie Williams said he hopes the investigators’ work in identifying his brother will give hope to other families with missing loved ones.
“I think that’s the most awesome thing that’s happened to me,” Williams said. “I’ve seen it on TV. But to have it happen to me and my family, it’s awesome.”
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