PERRY COUNTY, Pa. — The Perry County District Attorney and members of the Pennsylvania State Police announced murder charges stemming from the discovery of a body in 2014.
Perry County District Attorney Lauren Eichelberger and members of the State Police revealed the identification of the John Doe victim, the arrest of a suspect, and murder charges stemming from that body discovery.
Officials say that the body found on May 27, 2014 in Rye Township was identified as Michael Holober, who was 47 years old when his remains were found. Authorities were able to identify the body by extracting DNA in 2022 that was sent to a lab in Texas for forensic genealogical DNA testing. This was paid for via a grant obtained by the Perry County District Attorney's office.
In February of this year, a distant family member of Holober was identified, and by way of several interviews and a DNA comparison, officials were able to name Holober as the victim.
Investigators worked with Othram, a forensic lab based in Texas.
“We build a DNA profile that has hundreds and hundreds of thousands of markers," said Dr. Kristen Mittelman, Othram's chief development officer. "We can then upload that to databases consented for law enforcement use and when we upload it we can get really distant relatives.”
Police learned that Holober had been living in the area of Strasburg, Virginia at the time of his disappearance in 2012, and with the assistance of the Strasburg Police Department, authorities determined that Holober had been shot and killed by James Callahan, of Virginia, who was an acquaintance.
Callahan allegedly shot and killed Holober in Virginia before transporting his body to the Perry County area.
Holober's body was eventually located by a hiker in 2014.
Callahan has been arrested and is facing charges in Virginia for his crime.
"Today, I am happy to announce that not only does Mr. Holober have a name, but an arrest has been made in Strasburg, Virginia for his murder," Eichelberger said at the press conference.
"As the State Police have also said: It is possible to solve every case, even the ones that seem impossible."