Identity of bones determined

After more than a decade, Columbia County investigators have determined the identity of bones found on a Grovetown construction site.

Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said the remains discovered in 1997 have been identified as Kenneth Lee Hopson of Harlem.

The determination came from a comparison of mitochondrial DNA against Hopson’s only known relative, a brother in Fredericksburg, Va., Capt. Morris said. That brother, Lawrence Hopson, has since died without knowing his brother had been found, Capt. Morris said.

Mr. Hopson’s remains were found Aug. 19, 1997, by workers on the construction site of the Augusta Golf Teaching Center on Columbia Road, which is now the site of St. Teresa’s Catholic Church. A rusting handgun was found nearby.

“The key was the gun,” Capt. Morris said.

An agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed in May 2007 that the gun was purchased by Mr. Hopson in 1979.

Mr. Hopson, 50, had been living in a trailer on VFW Road near Harlem when he disappeared.

Once police determined the owner of the pistol, investigators started a search for any of Mr. Hopson’s relatives, Capt. Morris said, and the Maryland brother was found in April 2008.

A DNA sample was taken from him at that time and delivered to an FBI laboratory. The results of the testing proved the remains were those of Mr. Hopson, but were not concluded until September 2009.

Capt. Morris said the brother died six months after his DNA was collected, before the tests proved his relationship to the skeletal remains.

Police believe that no foul play was involved in Mr. Hopson’s death. They believe he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

No decision has yet been made on what will become of Mr. Hopson’s remains, Capt. Morris said.

Reach Donnie Fetter at (706) 868-1222, ext. 115,

or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com.