Murder of Bobby Whitt and Myoung Hwa Cho

Robert "Bobby" Adam Whitt and Myoung Hwa Cho were two formerly unidentified murder victims whom were killed in 1998. They remained unidentified until they were both identified using GEDmatch in early 2019. While unidentified, Whitt was nicknamed Mebane Child and the Boy Under the Billboard respectively. Discovery: On May 13, 1998, the nude body of an Asian female was found on the side of a road parallel to Interstate 85 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The victim had been bound at the wrists, with ligature marks present upon her discovery. An autopsy determined her cause of death as suffocation. On September 25, 1998, a landscaping crew cutting grass under a billboard along Industrial Drive along Interstate 85 and Interstate 40 in Mebane, North Carolina discovered the skeletal remains of a young boy. There was no sign of trauma at the scene and was likely that the child was killed elsewhere. The child was wearing khaki shorts, white socks and matching underwear, and black and white shoes that appeared to have been purchased recently. $50 was found in the pocket. The child had straight, dark brown hair about 3 to 4 inches in length, likely had a light brown to fair complexion, and likely had brown eyes. The boy was initially thought to have been Hispanic and possibly a migrant worker. The boy had no fillings, but preventative dental sealing in multiple teeth, as well as a slight overbite with erupting upper canines, which may have been noticeable when he smiled or spoke. The boy likely died during the spring or summer of 1998. Investigation: Sketches of the decedents were created in attempts to identify them, but to no avail. The boy's case received wider attention. Through the use of forensic palynology and isotope analysis, it was determined that the boy was originally from the southeastern United States, particularly Alabama and Georgia. Forensic artist Frank Bender created a clay reconstruction in 2010. It would be Bender's last case he worked on before dying of cancer in 2011. The boy's case was also given to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where they created multiple reconstructions using CG technology. 20 years after the boy's discovery in October 2018, more details about the boy's case were released. The details stated that the cause of death was determined to by strangulation, and through further genetic testing determined that the boy was not of Hispanic descent, but was biracial; being of European and East Asian descent. The details also narrowed the time of death to be around June or July of 1998. Additional photographs of the crime scene were also released to the public. In December 2018, Dr. Barbara Rae-Venter, who is known for her work in identifying the Golden State Killer, reviewed the boy's latest DNA tests, and matched his DNA to the DNA of a relative who submitted the information into the GEDmatch database. After contacting the relative, a first cousin from Hawaii, the relative confirmed the identity of the boy as Robert "Bobby" Adam Whitt.