After 36 years, forensic experts identified a 1987 cold case homicide victim found near the Wyoming border in Jackson County.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in a Monday news release identified Jerry A. Mikkelson, 24, of Sioux Falls, S.D., who went missing in 1983, as the man found Oct. 18, 1987, dumped on a forest service road five miles south of the Wyoming border.
A family member of Mikkelson filed a missing persons report stating he “willingly” left his home in Sioux Falls on Aug. 8, 1983, sheriff’s office officials said. Investigators believe Mikkelson spent time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Olathe, Kansas; Wyoming; and possibly Colorado while he was missing.
In June, the sheriff’s office and Colorado and Wyoming state investigators exhumed Mikkelson’s remains and collected new DNA samples. They also discovered a titanium rod put in his femur, and Mikkelson’s family confirmed he broke his femur and got the titanium rod six years before he went missing.
Investigators believe Mikkelson was murdered in Wyoming and brought to Colorado later based on soil samples collected when he was found, the news release states. He was found wearing a vest with the initials L.B.L. written on the inside tag.
Mikkelson was born Aug. 12, 1963, and was described as a 5-foot-9-inch, 160-pound man with brown eyes and hair at the time of his disappearance.
Anyone with information about Mikkelson or the homicide can submit a tip to tips@jacksoncountyco.gov or by leaving a message on the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 970-875-7069.
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