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Partial Remains Found 33 Years Ago at Dump Site Identified as Missing Teen, Authorities Say
DNA testing identified the remains 33 years later, but investigators said how the boy died and reached the dump is still unknown.
Ventura County authorities identified human remains discovered at a Camarillo dump site 33 years ago as Joseph Patrick Reardon, a teen born in Fresno in 1970.
By 1985, Reardon lived in an Oxnard group home and attended Channel Islands High School before enrolling at Hughson High near Modesto in 1986 using the alias Joe Gilbreth.
The breakthrough occurred after the Ventura County Medical Examiner sent a DNA sample last year to Othram Labs in Texas, which linked the partial remains to Reardon's relatives.
Although identified, the circumstances of his death remain a mystery; the Cold Case Unit is actively seeking anyone who knew him "even in passing" to provide information.
Investigators still do not know how he ended up in Camarillo or if he was formally reported missing, though authorities stress "any detail, no matter how small, could be the key" to closure.