GA GA - Eatonton, BlkMale 1011UMGA, 15-20, in train car, sutures in lip Jun'78

CarlK90245

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The Doe Network:
Case File 1011UMGA

http://doenetwork.org/cases/1011umga.html
(NamUs Case File 4710)
https://identifyus.org/cases/4710

1011UMGA.jpg

Reconstruction of Victim

Unidentified Black Male

* The victim was discovered on June 10, 1978 in Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia
* Estimated Date of Death: 2 days prior

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 15-22 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 130-140 lbs.
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Black/brown hair; brown eyes. Slim build. No scars listed.
* Clothing: Black knit shirt, jeans and size 8 shoes
* Fingerprints: Available
* Dentals: Available

Case History
The victim's remains were found in a coal car of a train while stopped in Eatonton, GA at the Georgia Power Plant.
The train was put together in Ferriston, Kentucky and then went to Etowah, Tennessee the same day. The train arrived in Atlanta on June 8, 1978 and left the following day en route to Camak, GA (Warren County).
The train arrived in Eatonton on June 10, 1978. It is unknown in which city the remains were placed on the car.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
GBI Regional Office in Milledgeville
478-445-4173
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

NCIC Number:
U-410135690
 
I can't find anywhere that anyone has suggested Willie Reginald Clark as a possible for this UID. He is one of the only two Black Males in that age range listed in Charley Project as missing in late 77 or early 78.

Willie Reginald Clark
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/clark_willie.html

clark_willie.jpg
1011UMGA.jpg


If you let his hair grow out and remove his military hat, he looks like the same guy IMO.

And the timeline is spot-on.

There isn't much info to compare vital stats. There is no mention of the UID's height either in DoeNet or in NamUs.

WRC is listed as having Reddish Brown hair, although it looks pretty dark in the photo. The UID is listed as having Black/Brown hair. I don't know if I should see anything in the "Black/Brown" description, as most blacks have black hair.
 
This timeline and resemblance make this too good not to submit and I definitely see the resemblance, but I have a few questions:

1. Weight - Reggie is listed as being 175, although elsewhere the family's site suggests this is unknown so I don't out too much strength in that. 5'10" and 175 is quite stocky for someone not carrying any excess fat. 130-140 would be pretty slight build but possible for the height.

2. Eye color - Doe had brown eyes, as do most blacks; however Willie had gray/green eyes. This points to Caucasian admixture but there's no mention of it elsewhere;

3. Hair color - as above;

4. Hair style - while Willie could (and probably would, given the choice) have grown his hair out, he's in military uniform. I'm guessing but I imagine that hairstyle wouldn't have been possible back then for a serving soldier - so if Willie was still serving, it's unlikely that this is a match.
 
This timeline and resemblance make this too good not to submit and I definitely see the resemblance, but I have a few questions:

1. Weight - Reggie is listed as being 175, although elsewhere the family's site suggests this is unknown so I don't out too much strength in that. 5'10" and 175 is quite stocky for someone not carrying any excess fat. 130-140 would be pretty slight build but possible for the height.

2. Eye color - Doe had brown eyes, as do most blacks; however Willie had gray/green eyes. This points to Caucasian admixture but there's no mention of it elsewhere;

3. Hair color - as above;

4. Hair style - while Willie could (and probably would, given the choice) have grown his hair out, he's in military uniform. I'm guessing but I imagine that hairstyle wouldn't have been possible back then for a serving soldier - so if Willie was still serving, it's unlikely that this is a match.


I don't think that 5'10 and 175 lbs is stocky. I would say that 175 lbs is on the thin side. I am 5'11", and my weight hasn't been as low as 175 since I was a skinny kid in high school. But yeah, 35 lbs difference is quite significant for a body that is not decomposed.

And the eye-color is an inconsistency, although I've seen eye color incorrectly noted on a few occasions.

As for hair style, we don't know how long prior to his disappearance the military photo was taken, and you are right. If he was still enlisted, that would be a conclusive rule out. However, it was not unusual, especially in the post-vietnam 70's for people to let their hair grow long after being discharged from the military .
 
Interesting notes in NamUs:
Clothing and Accessories: Female Panties
Comment in Fingerprints Section: "Long Fingernails"
Eye Description: "Black, curled eyelashes"

This doesn't match the clothing description from DoeNet.

Sounds like he was a cross-dresser.
 
Interesting notes in NamUs:
Clothing and Accessories: Female Panties
Comment in Fingerprints Section: "Long Fingernails"
Eye Description: "Black, curled eyelashes"

This doesn't match the clothing description from DoeNet.

Sounds like he was a cross-dresser.
I think your potential matches are the closest in physical appearance as I have seen on any case. I only know from this one by what I read here and just wanted to say thank you for printing what information you found at NamUS.
This information is vital in research! For instance, if we stay in the box of looking for a squeaky clean service man who died in his sleep and was tossed in a coal car, (exaggerated for example) we miss the essence of his entire life. We begin to search places the UID would never be aware of or we dismiss scenerios that may be his reality.
This is my gripe with DOE. Everything to them is "objectionable" therefore they do not print graphic pics or circumstances of real life.
Good job Carl.
 
175 can be quite stocky - if someone has low fat. It's quite easy (I know) to be quite naturally slim and build up to that weight without appearing fat. 130lbs on the other hand is definitely skinny.

The additional information from NamUs is definitely interesting and for that matter relevant to any investigation.

I just wonder if he might have been more androgynous and so Doe has edited selectively and rather than the accessories/underwear being inconsistent, incongruous might be the word.

I think it's too early and the wrong kind of location for him to be a New Romantic (and the panties definitely suggest he wanted the female effect) but the female accessories with jeans and a shirt might fit that kind of look.

This is the kind of thing I mean (guy on the right):

The+Human+League+Joanne+Catherall+and+Phil+Oake.jpg


His body was found on top of the wagon. That suggests that he was added to the train en route. Alternatively, could he have just jumped onto the train and been killed by the fall, either intending to commit suicide or to stow away? There doesn't seem to be any COD listed.

If he was killed, I guess whoever killed him thought he would simply be tossed into the furnace. Am I overthinking in linking that to the original meaning of ""? Either way, it's quite an innovative way of disposing of a body and seems like it'd need some thought.

The other possibility of course is that he was humiliated before he was killed and met with or was taken by his killer(s) dressed as a regular guy and the dress-up was part of a process of antemortem torture. This would certainly fit with the timeline in Willie's case.
 
A couple of things in reply to your comments:

There are a lot of coal mines in Kentucky, so when they say "coal-car", I am presuming that it was for the purpose of transporting coal to be sold elsewhere, not to fuel the furnace.

I doubt that the cross-dressing was an act of humiliation. If it was just women's clothing, maybe - but long fingernails and curled eyelashes? That is something that one does voluntarily, not something that is imposed upon him.
 
CarlK90245; [COLOR="Red" said:
Case History[/COLOR]
The victim's remains were found in a coal car of a train while stopped in Eatonton, GA at the Georgia Power Plant.
The train was put together in Ferriston, Kentucky and then went to Etowah, Tennessee the same day. The train arrived in Atlanta on June 8, 1978 and left the following day en route to Camak, GA (Warren County).
The train arrived in Eatonton on June 10, 1978. It is unknown in which city the remains were placed on the car.

Now just where exactly is Ferriston, Kentucky? I couldn't find it on any maps.

Looking on a map, there is a Ferguston, Kentucky. That is South of Somerset and east of US 27. I do know that Somerset is quite a way west of the Kentucky coalfields.

From Somerset, if you were to follow US 27 into Tennessee, you could almost draw a straight line going from Ferguston, Kentucky to Etowah, Tennessee. I see that Etowah is Southeast of Athens, Tennessee and between I-75 and US 411.

The railroad probably ran parallel from the US highways and I-75 going into Atlanta. And most likely the rail cars traveled on different rail lines along its journey from Kentucky to Georgia.

Does anyone know if Willie Reginald Clark was still active in the military service when he disappeared? I'm guessing that the fingerprints on the unid was ran thru LE & DOD databases and it came up empty.
 
I even find the police written descriptions to be kind of lacking at times. "Female Panties" could be just about any female underwear. It makes a bit of a difference I think, to how we interpret what he was trying to do by dressing in them. Those panties could be anything... from a pair of nominally female sports panties borrowed from his girlfriend, or mild gender-bending as per how experimental gender bending among young adults was mostly being done back then (sort of glam rock type stuff... David Bowie is an example) or covert transgenderism or a sexual fetish. If only the police had included fabric, print and style!
 
I just called this in to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and left a voicemail message with Detective Ryan Carmichael. I asked whether Willie Clark has been compared to this case, and if they have a rule-out listing.
 
Det. Carmichael called back. He says that there has been very little public interest in this case, and Willie Clark has not been looked at yet. They have only looked at "a couple of names", but he didn't elaborate on who they were.

I e-mailed him the Charley and DoeNet links, as well as the Black and Proud link related to his case.

http://naima731.multiply.com/journal/item/57
 
one question and one observation.

question - any response Carl from Det. Carmichael?

observation - if the deceased was in fact a cross dresser, he might never have been reported as missing. while it has lessened to some degree over the years, homophobia in the African American community has been rabid so this guy could have been ostracized by his family and not considered "missing" in the classic sense.
 
He has a niece and her name is Kenise Wright. I found out a little more info at Naima731.multiply.com.
 
I called in to Detective Mingle of the Baltimore PD to see if I could resolve this on the Missing Persons side. He took down the information, and my phone #, and said that he would call me back.
 
I know there is a 3 year gap, but my missing guy was also supposed to be testifying in a murder case so he might have hit the bricks. Let me know what you think. I think when you put the original sketch with the black and white photo and the new NCMEC recon with his color pic, the resemblance is astounding.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2149dmmi.html
 
No Namus ruleouts as of June 22, 2014 (https://identifyus.org/cases/4710)

The underwear is now described as "bikini-style underwear," so it might not be women's underwear at all. It also says, "Sutures on upper left lip from recent trauma."

Also, a new reconstruction from NCMEC: https://identifyus.org/en/medias/show/21311

Also, NAMUS now states the UID had "curled eyelashes", which could simply mean he had naturally long, curled eyelashes, and "extremely long fingernails", which I assume were also natural. Leaning away from the cross dresser theory now.
 
hey Carl!

They now say the doe had reddish brown hair! Submit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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