DNA confirms remains found in Janakkala belong to missing man Saku Inomaa

DNA analysis has confirmed that the remains found in Janakkala’s Tervakoski belong to Saku Inomaa, who went missing in 2015. A missing person report was filed with the Helsinki police. Authorities do not suspect foul play in this incident, and the details surrounding the cause of death are protected by law.

The skeletal remains were discovered in the second-to-last week of August, in a forest near Lautamäentie. Reports vary on how the remains were discovered, citing either two berry pickers or mushroom foragers. The police were informed of the discovery shortly after it was reported in the news, and the find is located approximately three kilometers from where Inomaa was last seen nine years ago.

Inomaa, a man in his forties, mysteriously disappeared in mid-May 2015 while traveling by bus from his family’s cabin in Iittala to Helsinki. After notifying a family member he was heading home, he unexpectedly exited the bus at a stop in Tervakoski, and subsequently vanished without a trace.

Search efforts were extensive in the years following his disappearance, involving police officers, volunteers, and even search dogs. Inomaa’s mother made an appeal for help in late 2015, leading to the formation of a search group. Despite numerous searches and reported sightings over the years, including a potential sighting of a man resembling Inomaa on the night of his disappearance, he was declared dead last year, with his date of death officially recorded as May 16, 2020.

The incident has drawn attention in the Finnish media, including coverage in the “Kadonnut” (Missing) podcast series.