CENTREVILLE, Ala. (WIAT) — Thursday morning, crews in Bibb County exhumed the coffin of an unidentified young teenage boy who died 55 years ago. Officials are hoping DNA technology will help them identify who he is.

Bibb County Deputy Coroner Scott Cox says he wants to know who the young boy was and finally allow his family to grieve.

“Well my ultimate hope is hopefully some of his relatives are still living and if they are, then that will give them closure to a missing loved one,” Cox said.

7 a.m. Thursday morning, workers began the process of exhuming a grave containing the remains of a young boy who was killed 55 years ago. Nearly two hours later, crews were able to bring the vault above ground. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is helping to fund the project. After DNA samples are collected, the information will be sent to the University of North Texas and then entered into a national database.

“He was a hitch hiker on the side of the road, someone’s child who tragically died in an automobile accident. We would like to reunite or let someone know that this is their family.”

The unidentified boy was between the ages of 13 and 17. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. He was 5-feet, 6-inches tall and had a homemade tattoo on his left arm. In 1961 he was picked up while hitchhiking in Bibb County. The vehicle was involved in a crash on River Bend Road. The driver survived, but the boy didn’t.

The remains of the unidentified boy were taken to department of forensic science in Montgomery where the DNA samples will be taken, then sent to Texas for testing. The Bibb County coroner says the process may take weeks or months before DNA results can identify who this person was. The boy’s remains were taken back to Bibb County, where he was reburied at the Centreville Memorial Cemetery