There is NO news story as of yet; I will put a link up if one shows up. Via a Doe network FB friend. Will PM Carl the full version.
Unidentified Homicide Victim Identified through DNA
A Knoxville man who was killed 32 years ago, but never identified, now has a name. He is Howard Hardin, who was 30 years old at the time of his disappearance. His skeletal remains were found in 1982, in an East Knox County field, the victim of a homicide. Through recent media reports, the family realized that he might be their relative and contacted the Knox County Sheriffs Office. The mystery was solved when his family submitted DNA and it was a 100% match.
Hardin was reported missing to the Knoxville Police Department by his then girlfriend, Linda Gaile Cole, when he failed to return to his Linden Avenue apartment on January 17, 1981. His remains were discovered almost a year later on January 12, 1982 in an area off Clear Springs Road and Arnold Lane when the property owner found them under some brush. A forensic examination of the remains showed that the victim had been shot in the head, execution style, with a small caliber pistol. Obvious attempts had also been made to conceal the body at the scene.