Woman saw new concrete slab after man vanished in 1999, AZ cops say. He was below
When a woman noticed a man who once lived at her parents’ Arizona property suddenly vanished in the late 1990s, she thought it odd.
Her parents told her the man had left their Dolan Springs property; however, the man’s belongings were untouched, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sept. 4 Facebook post.
The woman also noticed her parents had poured a slab of concrete on their property, deputies said.
So, when the sheriff’s office posted in July, asking if anyone had information about remains found at a property on the same street where her deceased parents once lived, the odd feeling resurfaced.
The woman called deputies and told them the name of the man who once lived with her parents.
With the man’s name and subsequent DNA testing, the man was finally identified as Chett G. Williams, deputies said.
Investigation but few answers
On Aug. 26, 2021, as a Dolan Springs property owner was breaking a concrete slab in his yard, he stumbled upon human remains below, deputies said.
Deputies said they partnered with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tucson and determined the man, who was older than 40 and between 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 9 inches tall, had died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Investigators believed the man was buried for at least 10 years, deputies said.
Despite efforts to identify the man, deputies said his name remained unknown.
Then, in February 2023, deputies said they looked to forensic genetic genealogy in hopes of closing the case and partnered with Othram Inc.
Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.
At Othram, scientists extracted DNA from the man’s remains and used it “to build a comprehensive DNA profile,” which was then used in genetic genealogy research to create new investigative leads for authorities, the company said in a news release.
These leads, however, didn’t create any major breakthroughs in the case, deputies said, adding that they instead looked to the public for assistance.
Woman’s tip leads to answers
In July, deputies posted on Facebook, asking for anyone with information that could help identify the man to come forward.
A week after making the post, deputies said a woman left a voicemail, noting she may have information about the man’s identity.
When the woman spoke with deputies, she told them about Chett Williams, the man who lived with her parents between 1998 and 1999, and how he suddenly vanished, the sheriff’s office said.
After sifting through property records, deputies said they learned the woman’s parents once owned the property where the man’s remains were found.
Additionally, deputies said, they learned a man by the name of Chett G. Williams listed the couple’s address as his place of residence.
Records of him, however, stopped in 1999, deputies said.
The couple who owned the property died, the husband in 2006 and wife in 2018, deputies said.
After speaking with the daughter, deputies said they gave this information to the Othram genealogist, who found Williams’ relatives on the East Coast, deputies said.
Investigators spoke with Williams’ family over the phone and verified that he had traveled to Arizona to live with a woman, whose name was the same as the daughter’s mother.
One of the relatives provided a DNA sample, which when tested confirmed the man’s identity as Chester G. Williams III, also known as Chett Williams, deputies said.
Dolan Springs is in northwest Arizona, about a 80-mile drive southeast from Las Vegas.
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Woman saw new concrete slab after man vanished in 1999, AZ cops say. He was below."
