Fresno County murder victim identified 10 years after death

The remains of a man found burned in an orchard in 2006 have been identified, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office is hoping to finally solve the decade-old case.

Spokesman Tony Botti said deputies found the body near Interstate 5 and Shields Avenue west of Firebaugh on May 6, 2006. The DNA obtained from the body did not match any in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), and the case went cold.

In October, the sheriff’s homicide sergeant found the case while reviewing cold case files. He contacted the coroner’s office, which still had the victim’s femur. The sergeant sent the bone to the U.S. Department of Justice’s crime lab, which positively identified the victim as Jack Dupee, 24, of Livermore in Alameda County.

The match was possible because Dupee’s parents had submitted their DNA to CODIS sometime after their son went missing.

Dupee was last seen in early May of 2006. He had lived in several communities throughout California, including: South San Francisco, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Richmond, Livermore, Tracy, Los Banos and Modesto. Investigators believe someone in these communities may have information that could lead to identifying Dupee’s killer.

Anyone who had any contact with Dupee is asked to call Detective Mark Chapman at 559-600-8209 or Crime Stoppers at 559-498-STOP.

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Fresno County murder victim identified 10 years after death."