Remains found in drained Orange County swamp identified as missing 76-year-old
Authorities say Mikolai Celesz’s remains were discovered off Woods Road in Greenville in 1991.
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A decades-old unsolved mystery that began with a startling discovery of human remains in an Orange County swamp has now been linked to a man who vanished nearly 50 years ago.
New York State Police say the remains found in a drained Greenville swamp in 1991 have been identified as those of 76-year-old Mikolai Celesz, a Port Jervis resident reported missing in 1976.
The case dates back to September 14, 1991, when troopers from SP Middletown were called to Woods Road after a swamp was drained and workers uncovered a skull and other bones.
The remains were clustered within seven feet of each other, some buried beneath a foot of earth. Personal items were found nearby, but years underwater stripped them of any identifying clues. Only a handful of coins and manufactured pieces hinted the victim had likely gone missing in the mid-1970s.
For decades, investigators chased numerous leads. Troop F’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation combed through regional missing persons cases, issued media releases, and submitted DNA to national databases — but no match surfaced.
In 2024, scientific advances offered a new path forward. Working with Homeland Security Investigations, troopers developed a Familial DNA profile for forensic genetic genealogy. It revealed the victim had Eastern European ancestry but still didn’t provide a name. Later that year, the FBI’s Questioned Documents Unit analyzed deteriorated property recovered from the scene and uncovered a critical lead: evidence suggesting the victim may have lived in Port Jervis.
Troopers reexamined old records, and during that process Port Jervis Police located a hard-copy blotter entry dated October 1, 1976. It documented a missing person report for Mikolai Celesz, filed by a family member shortly after he disappeared.
With help from the State Police Cold Case Unit, the New York State Intelligence Center, and the FBI’s Organized Crime Unit, investigators expanded their research into Celesz’s life and disappearance.
In 2025, they traveled to Florida to interview surviving relatives. DNA samples collected during those interviews were analyzed by the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center and provided the long-awaited confirmation: the remains discovered in 1991 were those of Mikolai Celesz.
State Police say the breakthrough brings long-delayed answers to Celesz’s family, nearly 48 years after he vanished.
Anyone with information about his disappearance is asked to contact Troop F Communications at (845) 344-5300 and reference case number 3021756.
