Chett Williams Obituary, Death;- A man whose body was found under a concrete slab with a gunshot wound in Mohave County has been identified years later after a woman phoned investigators with a decades-old tip.
Human remains were discovered in August 2021 in Dolan Springs, located more than 200 miles northwest of Phoenix, by a property owner breaking up a concrete slab in his yard, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.
Working with the University of Arizona’s anthropology department, the Sheriff’s Office determined the remains were a White or Hispanic man older than 40, between 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 9 inches. He was thought to have been buried for at least 10 years, and the cause of death was determined to be a gunshot to the head, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Efforts to identify the man through genetic genealogy failed, so the Sheriff’s Office posted a Facebook request for information on the victim.
The case finally netted a lead July 26 when a woman called investigators and said her parents resided on the same street as where the remains were found and that there was a man who lived with them there about 27 years ago who suddenly disappeared, the Sheriff’s Office said. The woman recalled his name was Chett Williams. She said her parents told her Williams had left, which she found odd since all his belongings remained behind, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The woman also said that shortly after Williams left, her parents poured a slab of concrete at their home, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Property records showed the woman’s parents owned the property where the man’s remains were found, the Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators also found that a man named Chett G. Williams had used that address as his residence. The woman’s parents, Alvin Hamilton and Bea Hamilton, died in 2006 and 2018, respectively, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
With this information, a forensic genealogist with Othram Inc., a Texas-based genetic lab, located the names of relatives of Williams on the East Coast who verified that Williams moved to Arizona to reside with a woman named Bea Hamilton, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
A DNA sample from one of Williams’ relatives was given to Othram. It matched the remains found on the Hamiltons’ former property, according to the Sheriff’s Office. On Sept. 4, the genealogist revealed to investigators that the Dolan Springs victim was Chester G. Williams III, also known as Chett Williams, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Based in the Houston area, Othram offered its help through Project Grace, which covered costs, including the creation of a DNA profile from a victim sample, the uploading of information into a genealogy database and the investigation by a forensic genealogist, the Sheriff’s Office said.
