Authorities ’ID remains unearthed in Isanti County in 2003 as a man missing since the early’ 70s

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A mystery that has been around for more than half a century has been at least partially solved for one family.

Authorities said Wednesday they had positively identified the remains of a man excavated in 2003 at property southwest of Cambridge in Isanti County.

Donald Rindahl, 22, from Ramsey County, was buried on that land in Bradford Township in the late 1970s to early 1971s, the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office announced, thanks to thorough DNA testing.

Still left to resolve: What led to Rindahl’s death and who, if anyone, was responsible.

“Based off on … information from family, as well as the scene in 2003, it is believed that Donald was the victim of homicide, but his death was classified as unspecified,” a statement from the Sheriff’s Office read.

“It is highly believed,” the statement continued, “that there may be people still alive today who know what happened to Donald in 1970.”

Rindahl’s family members are demanding respect for their privacy, and they are refusing at this time to give interviews to the news media, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Skeletal remains were discovered in August 2003 in Bradford Township during an excavation project near Hwy. 47 and County Road 5. At that time, the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office collected the remains and determined they belonged to a white man in his 20s who was buried there anywhere from three to 28 years.

The Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday spelled out the range of forensic events that led to the identification of Rindahl’s remains.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has recovered from the remains a DNA profile placed in missing person databases. A facial reconstruction was also made and announced.

Investigators submitted DNA samples from families looking for loved ones, but no hits.

Then in 2019, Lisa Lovering, now chief representative in the Sheriff’s Office, turned to more current and improved DNA technology. DNA obtained by BCA was submitted to a lab twice in 2019 and 2020, but it does not produce a practical sample that can be tested by investigative genetic genealogy consultant Barbara Rae-Venter.

Last year, Rae-Venter referred the Sheriff’s Office to Othram, a lab in Texas that uses newer technology to generate DNA profiles from skeletal remains. This is the same lab that recently identified the remains of missing Stillwater teen Sherri Ann Jarvis found in Texas 41 years ago.

In October, Othram took a viable DNA sample and generated a comprehensive DNA profile that was sent to Rae-Venter and the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office. Within 24 hours, he had the partner of a distant relative. From there, he built a family tree.

In November, the Sheriff’s Office received the name of a man Rae-Venter believes was associated with the remains.

From there, Lovering saw Rindahl’s two siblings. One of them confirmed that their brother had been missing since 1970. Family members were told the FBI was looking for him before he went missing in connection with illicit drugs.

The Sheriff’s Office obtained DNA samples from the siblings. Samples were submitted to BCA to compare with DNA originally obtained in 2003 from the remains.

In December, the BCA said DNA comparison confirmed the remains as belonging to Rindahl.

Speaking about Lovering, Sheriff’s Capt. John Elder, “This is a detective who, despite a lot of promotion, never forgets about this victim.

“Chief Deputy Lovering was relentless, on several occasions, to identify this victim. He found a way to carry it out, and it allowed a family to provide a proper funeral for their loved one.”

In an effort to determine the cause and manner of Rindahl’s death, law enforcement requests that anyone with information about this case contact the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office at 763-689-2141 or Minnesota CrimeStoppers at 1-800 -222-8477.

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