There is a strong correlation between the Ojibwa tribe of the Great Lakes area and the Druze of Israel. This remarkable finding coincides with the actual Book of Mormon Geography, centered in Western New York, not Mesoamerica.
Because the Nephites were nearly exterminated, any chance of locating an existing tribe carrying Nephite DNA on Book of Mormon land is unrealistic. However, there was a migration of Nephites out of Book of Mormon lands by Hagoth:
5 And it came to pass that Hagoth he being an exceeding curious man therefore he went forth and built him an exceeding large ship on the borders of the land Bountiful by the land Desolation and launched it forth into the West Sea by the Narrow Neck which led into the land northward
6 and behold there were many of the Nephites which did enter therein and did sail forth with much provisions and also many women and children and they took their course northward and thus ended the thirty and seventh year
7 and in the thirty and eighth year this man built other ships and the first ship did also return and many more people did enter into it and they also took much provisions and set out again to the land northward.
8 And it came to pass that they were never heard of more and we suppose that they were drowned up in the depths of the sea and it came to pass that one other ship also did sail forth and whither she did go we know not. (Alma 63)
The fact they were “never heard of more” meant they traveled beyond the (Jaredite) Land Northward.
Wanting to distance themselves or merely to strike out on their own, the place they likely migrated to was Ontario, Canada, which is north of the Land Northward (Western New York), across the Sea North (Lake Ontario), beyond eyesight, but not too far they could not return.
From there, they may have multiplied and spread throughout Ontario or further, which the DNA substantiates.
DNA Studies
mtDNA haplogroup X: An ancient link between Europe/Western Asia and North America? (1998)
“To date, haplogroup X has not been unambiguously identified in Asia, raising the possibility that some Native American founders were of Caucasian ancestry“ (“mtDNA haplogroup X: An ancient link between Europe/Western Asia and North America?” eds. M D Brown, S H Hosseini, A Torroni, H J Bandelt, J C Allen, T G Schurr, R Scozzari, F Cruciani, and D C Wallace, Am J Hum Genet. 1998 December; 63(6): 1852–1861).
Mitochondrial DNA Studies of Native Americans: Conceptions and Misconceptions of the Population Prehistory of the Americas (2003)
“Mitochondrial DNA Studies of Native Americans: Conceptions and Misconceptions of the Population Prehistory of the Americas,” eds. Jason A. Eshleman, Riplan S. Malhi, David Glenn Smith, Evolutionary Anthropology, 2003, 12:7-18.
Origin and Diffusion of mtDNA Haplogroup X (2003)
“Origin and Diffusion of mtDNA Haplogroup X,” eds. Maere Reidla, et.al., Am J Hum Genet. 2003 November; 73(5): 1178–1190.