Found Deceased CA - Donald Merrills, 29, Lomita, 1 Oct 1994

Kat

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The Doe Network:
Case File 145DMCA

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/145dmca.html

Donald Lamont Merrills
Missing since October 1, 1994 from Lomita, Los Angeles County, California.
Classification: Missing


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Vital Statistics

•Date Of Birth: October 10, 1963
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 29 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'9"; 195 lbs.
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; blue eyes.
•AKA: Don Merrills
•Dentals: Not available


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Circumstances of Disappearance
Merrills was last seen in Lomita, CA on October 1, 1994.


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Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department
323-526-5541
Email

Agency Case Number:
97-0306817

NCIC Number: M-036167219
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
California Department of Justice

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/merrills_donald.html

Not found to be listed in NamUs at this time.

No archived articles found under following searches: Full name, first and surname, AKA.

Don has been missing almost 16 years. Come home soon.
 

Attachments

  • DLMerrills.jpg
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Last time anyone in his family saw him was 1987. Seven years later, calls mom to ask her to send money to a PO Box, then disappears entirely. Be nice to know where his mom lived, what kind of contact he had with his family, and whether that PO Box was assigned to him.
 
Maybe he was caught up in a bad lifestyle and that's why he didn't talk to his family for several years. Could be he owed money to someone in 1994 and didn't know where else to turn to other than his family. Did the mom send that money eventually?
 
Yeah, it seems the mom sent the money. This homeless man was found dead in a parking lot in El Cajon, and is thought perhaps to have had family in the Lake Cuyamaca area.

elcajonUID_zps47438bd7.jpg


He went by the name Steve, as far as the locals could remember, and he was said to have hung around in the parking lot where he was found dead, mid-October '94, of necrotizing fascitis, which sounds unbelievably nasty. He was said generally to have gone about in camo pants without a shirt.

Now, the UID had several tattoos, none of which are reported in Donald's info, but then it seems to have been awhile since Donald's family had seen him, and presumably they are the ones who reported him. Height, weight, age, hair color line up all right, and though Donald's DNA, dental and fingerprints are available at NamUs, the UID's dentals and DNA are not presently in the system, and fingerprints "available elsewhere." No listed rule-outs for the UID.
 
This is my first official solved case! More info to follow. I'm glad his family will be getting him back.
 
Dear Mr FINDERS :)
I want to thank you for the tip you provided back in January 2017 requesting acomparison of Oklahoma Unidentified Person NamUs #5118 vs NamUs Missing Person#22177 Mr Donald Merrills. Because of your efforts, we were able topositively identify this individual as Mr Merrills via fingerprints and DNAcomparisons. I appreciate the time you took in searching for matches andcontacting us with this information. Thank you so much!

Best regards-
Angela


Angela Berg, M.A.
OCME Anthropologist -Unidentified case management
918-295-3400Tulsa
918-585-1549Tulsa-fax
angela.berg@ocme.ok.gov
 
Dear Mr FINDERS :)
I want to thank you for the tip you provided back in January 2017 requesting acomparison of Oklahoma Unidentified Person NamUs #5118 vs NamUs Missing Person#22177 Mr Donald Merrills. Because of your efforts, we were able topositively identify this individual as Mr Merrills via fingerprints and DNAcomparisons. I appreciate the time you took in searching for matches andcontacting us with this information. Thank you so much!

Best regards-
Angela


Angela Berg, M.A.
OCME Anthropologist -Unidentified case management
918-295-3400Tulsa
918-585-1549Tulsa-fax
angela.berg@ocme.ok.gov

Nice work!
 

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