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A 29-year-old man hit while he was walking on I-59 in East Lake in March of 1993 was buried in the Jefferson County Cemetery in 1993 without authorities knowing his name. Now, 23 years later, they have identified him. (The Birmingham New/Michelle Williams)

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On a March evening in 1993, a man with long, blonde hair was walking along Interstate 59 in eastern Birmingham when a white vehicle crossed two lanes, hit him and kept going.

The impact killed the victim instantly. He wasn't carrying any identification and his name, age, and his story remained a mystery for more than two decades. Until now.

After 23 years, the Jefferson County Coroner's Office now knows his name. Edward Albert Forsythe. 29. A man with no known Alabama ties.

Coroner's officials identified him through fingerprints, which had been submitted to national databases throughout the year with no success. A renewed effort by the coroner's staff - especially Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates - got its first hit with Forsythe and now hopes for similar outcomes in 23 other cases dating back to 1984, including at least four homicides.

The crash that killed Forsythe happened March 9, 1993 at 5:48 p.m. Forsythe was struck by a vehicle on I-59 southbound, one-tenth of a mile north of 77th Street in the East Lake area.

Multiple witnesses told investigators the victim was walking in the emergency lane on the west side of the roadway, or the shoulder. All of the sudden, witnesses said, a white vehicle that was traveling on the inside lane crossed all lanes of traffic and hit Forsythe from behind. "He was knocked over the guardrail and came to rest in the grass next to the emergency lane,'' Yates said. "The vehicle did not attempt to slow down."

It wasn't clear then, and it's still not clear today, whether that vehicle meant to hit the man. All that was left behind was a white side-view mirror that apparently broke off the car during impact.

Forsythe was pronounced dead on the scene at 5:52 p.m. Birmingham police worked the scene, and former Jefferson County Medical Examiner Dr. Robert Brissie performed the autopsy. All they knew at the time was that he was in his mid-20s, 5-feet, 8-inches tall and weighed 148 pounds. He had hazel eyes, a mustache and long blonde hair. He was wearing a jean jacket, blue denim jeans white Airflow athletic shoes.

"We worked with the ID bureau at the Birmingham Police Department and the FBI and both agencies attempted to ID him through fingerprints,'' Yates said. "The prints were run locally through the state of Alabama and nationally by the FBI and there were no hits."

Forsythe was buried in a pauper's grave at the Jefferson County Cemetery in Morris. He was buried without a name, and without the knowledge of his family, if he had any.

Over the past year, Yates and the coroner's office began to enter their unidentified cases into the National Missing Unidentified Systems, also known as NamUS. It is a searchable database created to help in solving cases that involve unidentified human remains. The system includes cases from throughout the United States and can be searched by demographics, physical characteristics, case numbers or other specific information. New records are added every day by medical examiners and coroners across the country. Advances in technology are boosting the chances of finding a match.

The oldest case submitted from Jefferson County happened on Dec. 29, 1984 and is a white male between the ages of 35 and 50. The most recent is from April 8, 2016. The body is that of a male, but they can't determine his race and can only guess his ages was between 20 and 70.

There is a female from 2014, a male from 2013, two males from 2012, one female from 2011, a male from 2008, two males from 2007, a male from 2006, three males from 2004 and another from that year which they can't even determine gender, let alone race, a male and another set of remains from 2002, a female from 2001, a female from 2000, a male from 1999, a female from 1998, a male from 1997, and a male from 1993.

Officials are submitting fingerprints when available, as well as DNA and dental charts. It was only recently that they got what they call a "presumptive hit" on Forsythe, who had previous arrests for mostly property crimes. They learned he had 20 alias names, eight social security numbers, eight birthdates, and state identification cards from seven states - none of them from Alabama. His identification cards were from Pennsylvania, California, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and Texas.

He was arrested in Knox County, Tennessee just two days before he was killed and his fingerprint card from that jail ended up provided the definitive identification.

As best as authorities can tell, Forsythe was from the Philadelphia area and they are now trying to find relatives.

It is no easy task, but Yates said it's worth the effort. The mission statement of the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner's Office is "to establish the identity of human remains and to determine the cause, manner, and circumstances surrounding death in all sudden and unexpected deaths occurring in Jefferson County, Alabama."

"It's the mission of this office,'' Yates said, "And it's the right thing to do."