Murder Victim ID'd After 24 Years In Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Santa Cruz County investigators on Wednesday released the name of a murder victim whose body was found on a hillside near Scotts Valley more than two decades ago. Despite following up on leads in the years since, the victim's identity had eluded detectives since he was discovered off Bear Creek Road on Dec. 27, 1998.

Investigators were able to identify, arrest and convict three people linked to the murder, but the sheriff's office never deciphered who it was they killed — until now.

"The decedent was found to be in an advanced state of decomposition," officials said Wednesday. "An autopsy revealed the most striking aspect of injury was blunt force trauma, but due to the [body]'s state of decomposition — a majority of the soft tissue was gone."

After more than 20 years with no luck, the sheriff's forensics team and coroner's office started to explore using genetic genealogy to solve the mystery and give the victim's family closure. With help from the state's Jan Bashinski DNA Lab, Othram Inc., FBI, and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, they finally got their wish: The man found all those years ago was 22-year-old Eric Cupo.

The sheriff's office shared what they learned about Cupo's life in a social media post Wednesday:

"Detectives have learned that Eric Cupo was born in California. As a young child he was adopted into a family in Philadelphia and later moved to Florida with his adopted father. Eric briefly returned to Philadelphia at the age of eighteen to live with his adopted mother. From there, Eric moved around the country, and his family lost regular contact with him. Eric is believed to have subsequently lived in both Arizona and Ohio. The timeline of his arrival back to California is not clear."

Officials said they successfully notified both Cupo's adopted and biological families, who told the sheriff's office they were grateful for the tireless work to identify their lost relative.