Identified! SC - Horry Co., skeletal remains in woods, Sep'09 - Todd Christians

carbuff · Jul 10, 2010

I couldn't find a thread for this UID, but if there is one, please merge:

Investigators released a reconstruction of unidentified remains found in Conway SC, in a wooded area behind the Horry County Parks and Recreation building. The man is believed to be a homicide victim.

"At the time of discovery, investigators believed the victim had been deceased anywhere from six months to five years.

"The remains were taken to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, where investigators performed a facial reconstruction procedure on the victim's skull. The results of the procedure were turned over to police on Wednesday.

"Based on an examination of the remains, the homicide victim is believed to be a white male, approximately 30 to 50 years old and is believed to have stood 5'7" to 6'3"."

Rest of story including photos of the reconstruction at http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=12766950

CarlK90245 · Jul 10, 2010

It's hard to compare because of the beard, but this guy has very similar cheekbones. The brow and bridge of the nose aren't spot-on, but they are close enough to attribute the differences to the imperfect art/science of facial reconstruction.

It would be an easy comparison if you could see the UID's teeth.

Donnie Edward Pennington
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/pennington_donnie.html

carbuff · Jul 10, 2010

Good find, Carl -- he's from the region, right age and within the (very wide) height range. What can be seen of the ears looks close too.

Reannan · Jan 17, 2011

There is a video of the reconstruction and information on Facebook now:
Incompatible Browser | Facebook

What do you guys think about a match with Richard Kocenko, Missing from Charleston County, SC since 9/29/2008. He was 5ft 11in. Here is a link to Kocenko's information and thumbnail of the comparison.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/case_report_html/5553

Reannan · Jan 17, 2011

Great article here about how they recreated the image from the bones that were found.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/sep/05/csi-horry-county-edition/

CarlK90245 · Jan 17, 2011

Reannan said:
What do you guys think about a match with Richard Kocenko, Missing from Charleston County, SC since 9/29/2008. He was 5ft 11in. Here is a link to Kocenko's information and thumbnail of the comparison.

I tried overlaying the images of Kocenko and the facial reconstruction. It appears that Kocenko has broader, squarer jaws and a shorter forehead.

The news article has a photo of the skull, but unfortunately, the front teeth were apparently missing and had to be re-created. Consequently, I am unable to compare to Donnie Pennington on that basis.

I never did call in Donnie Pennington, so I just called the tip line and left a message.

Reannan · Jan 17, 2011

CarlK90245 said:
I tried overlaying the images of Kocenko and the facial reconstruction. It appears that Kocenko has broader, squarer jaws and a shorter forehead.

The news article has a photo of the skull, but unfortunately, the front teeth were apparently missing and had to be re-created. Consequently, I am unable to compare to Donnie Pennington on that basis.

I never did call in Donnie Pennington, so I just called the tip line and left a message.

Thanks Carlk! Donnie Pennington's eyes match better too - the are a big "longer" if that make any sense. Keep up posted on what you find out!

Angie4b1g · Jan 17, 2011

I think the eyes are a dead on match. One even seems to droop on both.

distracted 1976 · Jan 17, 2011

Hope you hear something sooner rather than later! It looks good to me!

starburst · Jan 19, 2011

I saw this reconstruction and thought of this man. John Calvert. It says he was shot twice in the head (per coroner) and the suspect in this case had a gun that they believed he used to kill this man and his wife. The hair line seemed it could be the same. There is no mention from either what type of gun the suspect had or whether they could tell the type of gun that was used in the killing. (probably not after so many years.)

://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/calvert_john.html

Any thoughts?

Id post the picture, but have not figured out how that works. I saved the picture, yet when I try to insert, it asks for URL address?

Donjeta · Jan 19, 2011

starburst said:
I saw this reconstruction and thought of this man. John Calvert. It says he was shot twice in the head (per coroner) and the suspect in this case had a gun that they believed he used to kill this man and his wife. The hair line seemed it could be the same. There is no mention from either what type of gun the suspect had or whether they could tell the type of gun that was used in the killing. (probably not after so many years.)

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/calvert_john.html

Any thoughts?

Id post the picture, but have not figured out how that works. I saved the picture, yet when I try to insert, it asks for URL address?

If you use the insert image button you need the URL of the photo. You can usually find it out by right-clicking the image. If you want to post a photo on your own computer you need the attachments button.

Reannan · Jan 19, 2011

starburst said:
Id post the picture, but have not figured out how that works. I saved the picture, yet when I try to insert, it asks for URL address?

Here is what I do... I often use "screen shots" to capture a picture and then I "paste" it into a MS Word document. I then Right click on the picture and select "Format Picture". The VERY first thing I format is to change the "Layout" properties to "Behind Text". This allows me to then move the picture around on the page, otherwise, it is 'anchored' to the place you pasted it and you can't do anything with it. You can then select the "Picture Toolbar" and crop the picture to just the image you want, and then you can enlarge it to whatever size you need. After I get it the way I want it, I Right click and copy the entire image and then open Windows "Paint" program from the "Accessories" and then I "Paste" the picture into that. Then, I can save it as a .bmp file to my computer. Then, I select the little paperclip icon above the box I am posting to in WS's and add the .bmp as an attachment. Hope this helps!

CarlK90245 · May 7, 2011

The decedent has been identified as Todd Lee Christians

Horry County police have identified a Myrtle Beach man as being the victim of a homicide after they found his body in 2009 in a wooded area near Conway, Sgt. Robert Kegler said.

Police found skeletal remains on Sept. 29, 2009, behind the Veteran’s Affairs and Horry County Parks and Recreation Building on Oak Street Extension in Conway, Kegler said. Through DNA testing, police identified the remains as being Todd Lee Christians, 33, who was last seen in the Myrtle Beach area in December 2007.

Christians had no contact with family since 2007, but was known to be “a drifter and moved quite often,” Kegler said. “He had no known friends or acquaintances.”

Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/05/06/21436...l#ixzz1LeWWPB3q

stillwatersc · May 9, 2011

http://www2.scnow.com/news/grand-strand/2011/may/06/conway-remains-2009-identified-ar-1810617/

Late last week, a response came back on the testing, and detectives were able to positively identify the victim. The mitochondrial DNA was entered in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and a match came back through the State of Kansas Prison Records.

Do all prisoners have DNA in CODIS?

stillwatersc · May 9, 2011

http://165.201.143.205/kasper2/offender.asp?id=52528

Todd served 2.5 years for Opiates,Opium or Narcotic Drugs;Possession;1st Off. Released May 24, 2005.

fedfan4life · May 9, 2011

I don't mean to be critical, but IMO that reconstruction looks nothing like the missing person. For example, look @ the lips...

webrocket · May 10, 2011

fedfan4life said:
I don't mean to be critical, but IMO that reconstruction looks nothing like the missing person. For example, look @ the lips...

I agree fedfan. for this reason we always have to take reconstructions (from skeletal remains) with a grain of salt. however, if they are dealing with a skull, then they have to make a few assumptions.

there was a thread where LE did sketches because they did not want to release a post-mortem photograph. mind you the sketches themselves looked like 2 different people. if memory serves me correctly, Carl made contact with LE or the ME and they finally released the port-mortem.

never in a million years would I have associated the actual face with the drawings.

Redwood146 · May 13, 2011

I wonder if the photo was from several years ago and some people age very quickly. however even this would not explain the very different type of lips the reconstruction was given.

Identified! SC - Horry Co., skeletal remains in woods, Sep'09 - Todd Christians

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