33-year-old remains identified as teenage boy as police ask for public's help
Topics: California, True crime
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Image: (Ventura County Sheriff's Office)
Topics: California, True crime
A teenage boy has been identified over three decades after his remains were found in California.
The remains, found in August 1993, were previously known as 'Camarillo Teen 1993,' and were discovered as a dump site at Beardsley and Wright roads in Camarillo were being cleared up, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.
Unfortunately, at the time, his body could not be identified, and there were no clues in to his disappearance.
The only thing examiners did know, is that the remains belonged to a teenage boy between 13 to 18.
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In 2025, Forensic Evidence was submitted to Othram Labs in Texas, where extensive DNA testing has identified him as Joseph Patrick Reardon, also known as Joe Gilbreth.
Joseph was born on June 17, 1970, in Fresno, California.
Despite the breakthrough, critical details of the teens life remain unknown, as the Sheriff's department are now asking for help from the public.
“If you knew Joseph Patrick Reardon, also known as Joe Gilbreth, even in passing, we urge you to come forward," they said in a press release.
“Any detail, no matter how small, could be the key to bringing answers and closure to this case,” they added. “Please contact the Cold Case Unit with any information you may have.”
According to California birth records, which have been accessed by SFGate, Joseph reportedly had young parents, a 16-year-old mother and 19-year-old father.
The publication also reports that a cold case investigator from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office says the teen was living in a group home in Oxnard in 1985.
The next year, it was reported he attended Hughson High near Modesto.
Authorities have not confirmed how long Joseph's body is thought to have been at the site before it was discovered.
It's not the first recent discovery of the kind. Recently, officials confirmed that they'd solved a decade long mystery of a missing teenager after a DNA breakthrough.
Jacob, from Niceville, Florida, was reported missing in February 2016, with his family getting closure 10 years later.
In 2022, human remains were discovered in Miramar Beach, 17 miles from Niceville - which was recently confirmed to be Jacob's.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office said at the time: "Ten years is a long time, but Jacob is home. Jacob’s back.
"His family is able to make a little bit of closure, and it’s our hope that we can continue to get answers," via Newsweek.