KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced progress Wednesday in another East Tennessee cold case — thanks to advances in genetic and forensic science.
Skeletal remains found by juveniles back in September 1985 along Buttermilk Road off Interstate 40 in Loudon County have been positively identified as those of James Keith Nuchols, 58, of Blount County.
"Victimology is so important," said veteran TBI Special Agent Brandon Elkins, who is overseeing a special targeted effort to identify unknown remains through funding the state Legislature. "To know the victim is to know the killer."
Authorities, however, still must track down the person who killed the Armed Forces veteran.
"This is still a cold case homicide," Elkins told WBIR.
Nuchols' mother, Hessie Nuchols, died in 1991. His younger sister, Wilma Atchley, of Rockford, died in 2021, obituaries show.
The Loudon County Sheriff's Office and TBI will work together going forward to find suspects in Nuchols' death. He was just weeks away from his 59th birthday.
After his bones were found, forensic anthropologists determined the victim had been shot and left along the roadway one to two weeks prior to the discovery of his body.
Loudon County Sheriff's Office investigators and the TBI worked to determine the name of the man, but their efforts were unsuccessful, the TBI said.
The University of Tennessee's Anthropology Department kept the bones, something they've done with other remains while they awaited advances that could lead to identification.
Several distinct items were found with the body, according to NAMUS, an information resource on the missing in the U.S. They included a newspaper dated Sept. 19, 1985, and a short-sleeve, black T-shirt with a motorcycle-like emblem on the back. The emblem had the words Knoxville, motor, Yank's Place nd the address 1807 Cherry St.
Officials worked for decades to identify Nuchols by submitting samples of his remains to various systems like CODIS and UNTCHI, but no developments occurred, according to the TBI.
In December, as part of the TBI's Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative, Nuchols' remains were submitted to Othram, a forensic genetic genealogical DNA testing lab in Texas. From there, authorities were able to work up a digital genetic profile of the person that could then be compared to a database of known genetic content.
Once possible relatives were found, TBI agents obtained a familiar DNA standard.
At the same time, a TBI intelligence analyst was able to locate a set of the victim’s post-mortem fingerprints. Nuchols had previously been charged with a crime, meaning law enforcement happened to have his fingerprints on file.
Both the familiar DNA standard and fingerprints confirmed the remains were those of Nuchols, a Blount County native.
Now, the TBI is asking for the public's help in providing information to help solve the murder of Nuchols. In this case, the agency really needs to hear from people who knew him or have information about what happened to him.
To share what you know, including any individuals he may have been with before his death, please call 1-800-TBI-FIND or email tips to TipsToTBI@tbi.tn.gov.