After nearly five decades of mystery, New York State Police have identified human remains discovered in a drained swamp in 1991 as belonging to a man who went missing in 1976.
Investigators confirmed the remains are those of Mikolai Celesz, who was 76 years old when he was reported missing from Port Jervis, New York, according to a recent update from State Police.
The case began on September 14, 1991, when a swamp off Woods Road in Greenville, Orange County, was drained, revealing a human skull and skeletal remains buried under about a foot of soil. The remains were found within a concentrated seven-foot area along with coins and personal items that suggested the person may have disappeared in the mid-1970s.
Despite exhaustive efforts by the Troop F Bureau of Criminal Investigation—including DNA submissions, missing person checks, and media releases—the identity of the victim remained unknown for decades.
That changed in 2024 when forensic genealogical testing on the remains, conducted in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations, revealed that the victim had Eastern European ancestry. Around the same time, personal property recovered with the remains was analyzed by the FBI’s Questioned Documents Unit, which pointed investigators toward Port Jervis.
Digging deeper into old records, officers located a 1976 missing person report for Mikolai Celesz in a physical blotter entry at the Port Jervis Police Department. This report indicated he had been reported missing by a family member on October 1, 1976.
In 2025, Troopers interviewed surviving family members in Florida and obtained DNA samples. The New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center matched those samples to the remains found in Greenville, confirming the identity as Mikolai Celesz.
“This identification brings long-awaited answers to Mikolai’s family—more than forty-eight years after he disappeared,” State Police said in a statement, thanking the FBI, Department of Homeland Security Investigations, and Port Jervis Police for their help.
Anyone with additional information about the disappearance of Mikolai Celesz is asked to call Troop F Communications at (845) 344-5300 and reference case number 3021756.
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