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VietnameseGriffin: ‘This is yet another example of my office’s Cold Case Unit working seamlessly with local law enforcement to find answers’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing the results of advanced DNA testing he funded for a cold case in Mississippi County:
“Advanced DNA testing conducted by Othram has resulted in the positive identification of remains found nearly 20 years ago in Mississippi County. The remains are those of Little John Sutton, who had last been seen in Memphis on August 1, 2006. His remains were found in Mississippi County on September 27, 2006, and his death was determined to be a homicide, but a positive ID was not possible at that time. He was reported missing by his half sister on October 30, 2006.
“In September 2025, I directed advanced testing to be done on DNA in this case by Othram, one of the country’s premier forensics laboratories. Funding for advanced DNA testing is one of the resources my office can provide in cold cases. In December, Othram advised of a potential identification and identified a possible relative residing in Memphis. Agents from my office, working with the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office, collected a DNA sample from Mr. Sutton’s half sister in January and submitted it to Othram to see if it was a match. Last week, Othram confirmed the match, officially identifying the remains as Little John Sutton.
“This is yet another example of my office’s Cold Case Unit working seamlessly with local law enforcement to find answers. I pray that this identification brings closure to Mr. Sutton’s family and opens new leads in solving his murder.
“I am grateful to Mississippi County Sheriff Aubry Cook for reaching out to my office and requesting that we work alongside him and his deputies on this case.”
Anyone with information related to the murder of Little John Sutton should contact the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office at (870) 658-2242.
To download a PDF version of this release, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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