Donald Sigurd Hadland Jr. was a man found deceased in a hotel room in 2002. He had been using a stolen identity leading up to his death.
He was identified in 2023.
Background[]
Prior to his death, Hadland lived in Washington, where he attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Sometime in 1988-1989, Hadland left his wife and son and never contacted them again, later residing in Florida and New Mexico. Hadland was believed to be attempting to obtain funds for a medical procedure when he moved out of New Mexico.
Placeholder image created by the DNA Doe Project
Case[]
Hadland checked into the Time Motel in Nogales, Arizona under the name "Edward C". At the time, Hadland informed the hotel manager that he was seeing a doctor in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico regarding an upcoming head surgery. The manager subsequently located Hadland deceased in his room after he failed to check out. An autopsy ruled the death as an accidental opioid-barbiturate overdose.
Investigators discovered that the name in which Hadland had been using belonged to a living man in St. Petersburg, Florida. In addition, Hadland carried a Florida driver's license with the stolen identity which he had presented to the front desk upon check-in.
Following Hadland's death, when no one came forward to identify him, his body was interred in a Nogales cemetery.
Identification[]
In April 2017, a fingerprint match to a Florida arrest record provided investigators with Hadland's name. Despite the new information, no next-of-kin could be located for Hadland until 2023. When Hadland's ex-wife viewed a facial postmortem photograph of the decedent she did not recognize him, leading investigators to believe that the name had too been stolen by the decedent.
The DNA Doe Project and Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College of New Jersey became involved with the case in 2023. A blood sample taken at Hadland's autopsy was used for DNA testing and genealogical analysis ultimately traced back to Hadland. Comparison with the decedent's DNA and Hadland's son's DNA proved the match. Copies of Hadland's Florida driver's license and mugshot were also found and shown to Hadland's ex-wife, who was finally able to make a positive identification.