Skeletal remains discovered in upstate New York almost 35 years ago have been identified as belonging to a man who went missing in the 1970s, authorities announced.
The human bones were found on Sept. 14, 1991, after a swamp off Woods Road in the Town of Greenville in Orange County, New York, was drained, according to a news release from New York State Police (NYSP).
At the scene, investigators recovered a skull and additional skeletal remains “concentrated within a seven-foot radius,” with parts of the remains buried under about a foot of soil, police said.
The victim was found with several personal items, but years of submersion and exposure to the elements left those items too damaged to reveal who he was, according to NYSP. A “thorough and exhaustive investigation” followed over the next several years, but no definitive identification could be made at the time.
In 2024, state police sent skeletal remains from the case to Othram, a forensic laboratory that specializes in identifying individuals from degraded or limited DNA samples, the company said in a news release. Othram created a comprehensive DNA profile that was returned to law enforcement, who then used it to conduct a forensic genetic genealogy search.
That same year, personal property recovered from the scene was examined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Questioned Documents Unit in Quantico, Va. Their work suggested the victim may have lived in the City of Port Jervis, New York.
Investigators with the Port Jervis Police Department later located a hard-copy blotter entry dated Oct. 1, 1976, documenting a missing person report for 76-year-old Mikolai Celesz, who had been reported missing that year.
In 2025, investigators conducted detailed historical research and gathered intelligence related to Celesz, then obtained DNA samples from his relatives. After analysis, NYSP confirmed that the skeletal remains recovered in 1991 “were conclusively identified” as those of Celesz.
Details surrounding his disappearance remain under investigation, Othram noted. Celesz’s case marks the 17th time in New York that officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by the company.
“The New York State Police is grateful to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security Investigations, and the City of Port Jervis Police Department for their invaluable assistance,” officials said in the news release. “Their partnership and dedication helped bring long-awaited answers to Mikolai’s family—more than forty-eight years after he disappeared.”
Anyone with information regarding Celesz’s disappearance is asked to contact NYSP Troop F Communications at (845) 344-5300 and reference case number 3021756.
