After 50 Years, Veteran Identified After Dying In Fiery Interstate 15 Crash

BAKER, CA — A hitchhiker killed in a fiery collision on Interstate 15 more than 50 years ago has finally been identified through investigative genetic genealogy, authorities announced Tuesday.

The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Terrance Lee Ronco, a 20-year-old military veteran and Valparaiso, Indiana, native who died Nov. 8, 1974.

Ronco was one of three passengers in a van that collided with a truck near Baker and caught fire, officials said. Both the driver and Ronco died in the crash. While authorities with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department identified the driver, the hitchhiker remained known only as a John Doe for more than five decades.

At the time, investigators learned the hitchhiker went by "Terrance" or "Lee" and may have been picked up in Iowa while traveling to Nevada to collect a paycheck from a dishwashing job. He had also mentioned living in Indiana and Florida.

Over the years, San Bernardino County coroner investigators uploaded Ronco's dental records to the state Missing and Unidentified Persons System, entered his DNA into the national CODIS database, and listed the case in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). Despite repeated database comparisons, no matches emerged, largely because Ronco had fallen out of contact with his family and was never formally reported missing.

The breakthrough came after the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department partnered with the DNA Doe Project and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in February. Volunteer genetic genealogists traced Ronco's genetic markers to Italian ancestry in the greater Chicago and Porter County, Indiana, areas.

Within four days of research, genealogists identified Terrance Lee Ronco as someone who might be tied to the case. Follow-up DNA testing subsequently confirmed his identity.

Although Ronco was never formally reported missing, his identity has been restored, giving his life and story the recognition they deserve, the sheriff's department said.

Authorities ask anyone with additional information related to the case to contact the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office at 909-387-2978, or submit an anonymous tip by calling or texting 844-909-3006.