MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The West Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery is being asked to exhume a body after a DNA report revealed a man buried five years ago was misidentified as an Army veteran who is still alive.
Family members said they had been searching for Dennis Henry Martin and, through their own investigation, recently discovered he had died in an Orange Mound neighborhood on Sept. 3, 2019.
Claire Jackson said her uncle had bruises on his body, but the medical examiner’s office ruled his cause of death unknown.
She said the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center also identified Martin as a man they believed Martin was living with at the time of his death. Jackson said that man is still living.
“What they did not do is get it right,” said Jackson. “They did not contact the reported next of kin, nor did they use any analysis to reach out to any individuals that were connected to him before burying him under the name he was buried under.”
Jackson said her uncle was from Marvell, Arkansas, but was living in Memphis before he died.
She said her mother tried for years to find out what happened to her brother but could not get any answers from authorities.
Jackson, who lives in Southern California, said her mom asked for her help, and last December, she contacted the FBI.
“I requested they do a fingerprint match to see if he had been in any confrontation with law enforcement, medical examiners, or any agencies that would fingerprint him,” Jackson said. “We were notified by federal agents that he was last fingerprinted at the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center.”
Jackson said family members were shocked when they learned Martin was dead and had been buried at the veterans cemetery as someone else. She said Martin was never in the military.
“There’s several rumors about what happened to him, a lot of folklore, and just absolutely untrue considering what was actually uncovered,” Jackson said. “It’s appalling in this century such a thing as this could occur. It makes you wonder how many more out there that we don’t know about.”
Last week, a DNA sample from Martin’s sister confirmed that the man buried at the West Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery was Martin.
The family has filed a request for disinterment and plans to bury Martin near his hometown in Phillips County.
“We need to get him a proper burial. It’s going to start the path to healing,” said Jackson.
The director of the West Tennessee Veteran’s Cemetery on Forest Hill Irene Road said she received the DNA results but couldn’t make a statement about the case.
Jennifer Heisleman said the disinterment process usually takes weeks, but this situation is unique.
“We are taking it one step at a time because it’s a lot,” Jackson said.
According to an autopsy report, after Martin was pronounced dead at the hospital, police told the medical examiner’s office that the victim’s identity, medical history, and next of kin were unknown.
The report said Martin had abrasions on his forehead, knee, and right hand. Jackson believes her uncle was killed and has asked Memphis homicide detectives to take a look at the case.
“He had defensive wounds on the back of his dominant hand, which was his right hand, along his right hand, all over his head and several places and on his knees,” said Jackson.
Jackson has also filed a complaint against a medical examiner at the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center with the Tennessee Department of Health Office of Investigations.
WREG contacted the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center and UTHSC for a comment about the misidentification, but we have not heard back.
The 2019 report, taken when Martin was found unresponsive on Douglas Street in Orange Mound, is not available. We asked MPD about the case but have not received a response.