LAFAYETTE, Ga. -- Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said the body exhumed in February from LaFayette Cemetery is not the remains of missing Miami of Ohio University student Ronald Tammen Jr.

Tammen was reported missing in April 1953 from Miami of Ohio University in Oxford, Ohio.

In January 2008 Walker County detectives began comparing Tammen’s disappearance with an unidentified body found in the Walnut Grove community in June 1953. Many striking similarities led authorities to exhume the unidentified body on Feb. 8. The remains were taken to the GBI crime lab in Atlanta, where testing and research have been ongoing.

Mitochondrial DNA was successfully identified from the remains and compared to Tammen’s sibling. The comparison was negative.

“All of us involved in this investigation are disappointed that the remains were not identified as Ronald Tammen Jr.,” Wilson said. “However, we remain optimistic that one day an identification will be made since mitocondrial DNA was captured from the remains.

“Our hearts go out to the Tammen family who have been searching for answers concerning their loved one for fifty-five years,” Wilson said.

Sheriff Wilson said detectives will begin to identify new leads in the discovery of the 55-year-old unidentified male body mystery. The sheriff encourages anyone who may know of someone who went missing in May or June 1953 and was never located to call the Walker County Sheriff's Department’s detective division at (706) 638-1909.

The unidentified body was found on West Rogers Road in the Walnut Grove community on June 25, 1953. The body was described as follows: white male, dark hair, medium complexion, 25-30 years old, 5-feet-9-inches tall, 155-160 pounds.

The body was clothed in a size 38 T-shirt, size 32, underwear with drawstrings, and GI socks.

GBI anthropologist Rick Snow and Georgia chief medical examiner Kris Sperry worked closely with Walker County Sheriff's Department and Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Department in this investigation.

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Officials cautiously optimistic on exhumation results (Published 2.8.08)