Pueblo detectives identify man found dead in field nearly 25 years ago

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Pueblo County Sheriff's Office confirms that nearly 25 years later, detectives have identified the remains of a man whose body was found in 2000 in a field just north of the Pueblo City limits.

Detectives say the updated use of DNA analysis helped identify Marvin Majors, originally from Oklahoma. Majors is reported to have been 34 years old at the time of his death.

According to detectives, they reopened the case in 2021 and found that the FBI had created a DNA profile of the man in a national database. They collected a new DNA sample from old evidence that had been saved when the body was originally found and submitted it to a genetic genealogy database in 2023 with the help of the CBI.

Detectives report that in November 2024, a DNA match was made with a distant family member, which led to the identification of Major's suspected sibling.

Family members said that Majors, who was from Oklahoma and grew up in Los Angeles, lived a transient lifestyle, and they had not seen him since around 1998-1999. Detectives say they were thankful for the work put forth to identify Majors.

According to detectives, it is believed that Majors was homeless and had been sleeping in a field just north of the Walking Stick development, where his body was found by a woman walking
her dog. The body, mainly skeletal remains, had no identification at the time.

The Pueblo County Coroner’s office says they conducted an autopsy, and an anthropologist analyzed the remains and estimated key characteristics of what the man was believed to have looked like.

Detectives say they worked for months to identify the man, even by using a sculptor from the University of Colorado who made a facial reconstruction using the man’s skull to create a clay bust. Detectives say the sculptor was then sent out to the public to try to identify the man.

“Through modern science and teamwork, our detectives were able to get the breakthrough they
needed to identify this person,” said Sheriff David J. Lucero.

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.