John Doe from 1978 Identified 

July 15, 2026 – Riverside County Sheriff’s Office officials report that on June 2, 1978, a Volkswagen Beetle carrying five teenage passengers was traveling westbound on Arlington Avenue in Riverside when the driver lost control, crossed the center divider, and struck a sport utility vehicle. The driver of the Volkswagen was the only survivor of that vehicle and told investigators at the time that he had met the male passenger only the day before, knowing little about him. The three other victims were identified at the time, but their families had no information about the fifth passenger.

Despite years of investigative efforts, the victim remained unidentified until now, nearly 50 years after his death. The Riverside Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau has identified the male victim of the fatal traffic accident as 18-year-old Mark Alan Smith.

With assistance from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Missing and Unidentified Human Remains grant program, which provided the Riverside Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau with the resources needed to perform an exhumation, and the GenGenies, a non-profit corporation that funded the forensic genetic genealogy work that ultimately produced the leads needed to identify the victim, this identification would not have been possible.

On behalf of his sister, Pam Bright and family, we extend our sincere appreciation to GenGenies and the Department of Justice’s Missing Persons DNA Program, whose expertise and commitment contributed to this outcome. Together, these efforts have finally given Mark Smith’s family the closure they have long awaited.

Reporting Supervisor: Coroner Sergeant Nancy Rissi

File # 40877

Source & photo: Riverside County Sheriff’s Office