Watch the press conference from Pickaway County in the video player above.

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — A Pickaway County cold case from the early 1990s on a missing person is now being investigated as a homicide after a major breakthrough.

On Tuesday, Pickaway County law enforcement announced in a press conference that they identified the body of a man who went missing in November 1988. The body was that of 21-year-old Robert Mullins of Columbus, whose skeletal remains were found in the rural area of Pickaway County on November 1, 1991, by a pair of hunters on a private farm lane.

After working with numerous agencies and doctors over the past three decades, Pickaway County Lieutenant Jonathan Strawser said they contacted AdvanceDNA in January 2022 to look through genetic genealogy to identify Mullins’ skeletal remains.

“I have such high regard for the investigators, the scientists and the people that have worked on this for the last 31 years and not giving up.” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost at the news conference.

Amanda Reno, the director of genetic and forensic case management with AdvanceDNA, discussed the process used to identify the remains as Mullins’ as they used its research technology to build an expansive family tree of more than 4,000 people.

Reno said she met with officials from the PCSO and the county coroner on Nov. 1, 2022, exactly 31 years to the day Mullins remains were found, and told them they positively identified the remains as Mullins’.

With the identification of Mullins, the sheriff’s office is investigating his death as a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to contact Lt. Strawser of PCSO at 740-474-2176.