FL FL - Lake City, WhtMale UP6246, 35-50, near I-10 rest area, Nov'78

Hey folks:

I know for a little bit, everyone has been following my case on the unidentified torso that was discovered in Columbia County, FL in 1994. Here is another case that I have been also paying close attention to. In fact, this was the first John Doe case I followed since I was a young sleuther.

In 1978, unidentified skeletal remains were discover in some planted pines at a rest area westbound of Interstate 10 at the Suwannee/Columbia County line in Florida. There was no clothing recovered, although there were some features of the remains, such as a healed broken nose that may have bent to the left; Healed broken left foot; and Severe arthritis in the left hip (possibly traumatic). According to dental records, he had an overbite; Amalgam fillings on tooth #3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 18 & 31; Porcelain filling on tooth #8; Class 2-3 periodontal disease in all teeth present; and atrophy of the lower jaw in the molar area.

Like in the previous case I am working on, I have obtained some leads, but they eventually fell through. Now its your turn! So far, they have only compared DNA to that of a Roland Martin Welsch of Texas, yet the test came back negative. There is a great possibility of this JD being identified. So please help me. Give me all of your leads so I can send them to the CCSO, or write to the CCSO at:

Columbia County, Florida
Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff Mark Hunter
4917 U.S. Hwy 90 East
Lake City, FL 32055-6288

Also too, you can call the Investigations Division at 386-758-1095. Below are some links to help you out on this case:

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/6246 NamUs Profile
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/21umfl.html Doe Network profile
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/Content/Office-of-Statewide-Intelligence/Homicides/John-Doe-(3).aspx FDLE Profile

Also any questions for me, please ask here or submit your tips in a reply!

Reconstruction

Very distinctive teeth!



Unfortunately, there is no record of teeth but everything else matches...

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kaplan_allan.html



and unlikely, but worth mentioning as all of the circumstances do match too...

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/barreto_john.html

Why does Oregon police investigate Barreto's disappearance if he disappeared from Miami? Is that where he lived?

The sketch on Doe Network looks Asian....wonder if they were suggesting possible admixture?

I am working on all leads now on Doe Network. That was a good find DippyBlonder! And thats a good question Donjeta. I wonder that myself, but it could be as you say, he might have been from Oregon; although I am unfamiliar with the case. I will submit all leads today in both cases I am working on.

http://www.nampn.org/cases/borofsky_stanley.html

Not sure about Stanley Borofsky, but thought I'd throw him out there as a possible?

There are two other sketches of the UID not showing his teeth on NamUs.

The first one looks quite a lot like Allan Kaplan
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/17678/54

DippyBlonder, did you submit Allan as a possible match? I have a feeling if he is the UID and his teeth looked like the reconstruction, it will be difficult finding a photo of him smiling.

Ambercat said:

DippyBlonder, did you submit Allan as a possible match? I have a feeling if he is the UID and his teeth looked like the reconstruction, it will be difficult finding a photo of him smiling.

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No. I think Jason is dealing with it?

DippyBlonder said:

No. I think Jason is dealing with it?

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Hello:

My apologies on not returning to this page or updating this case information. Thank you for this tip submission. I will be contacting the Sheriffs Office on Allan Kaplan shortly and will alert the CCSO as well on this tip. I will say this person is identical looking and that they share similarities! Maybe if these remains are identified as Allan's, then possibly there will be some closure and a possible connection in the area up in North Florida as to how he could have ended up there.

I have contacted Vicki Smith of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Missing Persons Unit. She is not in today, But I have left her a message so that she can get back to me as soon as possible. I hope to hear something from her in the next few days.

Can someone do a one-pic comparison on the John Doe sketch and the MP Allan Kaplan please? I need to post a comparison pic on the Facebook page but do not have the proper tools to do it.

JasonFutchLakeCityFL said:

Can someone do a one-pic comparison on the John Doe sketch and the MP Allan Kaplan please? I need to post a comparison pic on the Facebook page but do not have the proper tools to do it.

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here you go.

This is VERY identical. Question is, how did this Allan Kaplan fella end up in Columbia County if this is him? Did he have contacts in North Florida? Was he running away and just found himself on the short end of the stick? If he did run, why did he run? Many, many questions can be asked here!

JasonFutchLakeCityFL said:

This is VERY identical. Question is, how did this Allan Kaplan fella end up in Columbia County if this is him? Did he have contacts in North Florida? Was he running away and just found himself on the short end of the stick? If he did run, why did he run? Many, many questions can be asked here!

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Maybe someone had planned to hold him for ransom, since he was a business owner and all, and something went very wrong and he died in the process (I remember hearing about this happening to business men in the 1970s both domestically and internationally).

CarlK90245 said:

here you go.

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Hey everyone:

Thanks to CarlK90247, I was able to use his group imaging skills to obtain a side-by-side profile comparison of both John Doe and Allan Kaplan. I have also been in communication the last couple of weeks with Vicki Smith of the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office in Boynton Beach. She is skeptical of the match, but has said she will continue to work the leads. As of right now, the Columbia County Sheriffs Office has made no official comment on this; as we have not been in contact with them since the 1994 John Doe case work I have been doing was made public.

I continue to ask for everyone's help on this. Thank you all for the help thus far in both the 1978 and 1994 cases. Thank you.

Jason

BREAKING UPDATE: ALLAN KAPLAN RULED OUT

From our Facebook page:

This evening, I received the disheartening news that Allan Kaplan is not the Lake City John Doe from 1978. In an email sent to me from Vicki Smith, the Missing Persons Coordinator for Palm Beach Sheriffs Office it read:

"I had most everyone in my office compare the photos of Kaplan and the composite of the John Doe, we did not see a match. I did though request a DNA comparison of the two and they are not a match. The exclusion information has been added to both NAMUS files."

As I mentioned on my personal Facebook page, it is somewhat unfortunate that these were not a match; however the possibilities of Allan Kaplan still alive are feasible. I want to thank Det. Smith's office for being very cooperative in this time of possibility and hope, that it would have been possible to close a 34-year-old case. And I wish to thank everyone who has been continuing to help us in finding out the identities of not only the 1978 John doe case; but also the one that brought us all together: the 1994 Gas Station John Doe. And I hope that our assistance to the Columbia County Sheriffs Office will prove that even third parties. My friends, tonight also proved that DNA is a powerful tool...that it can assist in cases as old as 34! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them to us or email me at sleuthjasonfutch@yahoo.com. You can also feel free to share possible matches to us in both cases as well on here. Thank you very much everyone and keel sleuthing on!

Maybe this is suspicious of me, but I was initially surprised why the detective would be skeptical of a match (even though I know Allan Kaplan was eventually ruled out). I wonder if there is information [possibly only available to LE] that has more information? For example, maybe there is some physical trait not really coming through on the sketches but available in the PM or the decadent had something that you would not expect to see on Allan Kaplan?

Good afternoon everyone:

I have some new information to share on this case, which may make you want to write the sheriff! I would after discovering what I found out about this case and the treatment of "Forrest Doe".

An investigator has come forward with information regarding both cases I am working on: The 1994 BP John Doe (Namus #757) and this case. He has given me more information as to the story behind John "Forrest" Doe.

The sheriffs office was called out to the outer brink of Columbia County, near the Suwannee County line. Interstate 10 was just opened up to the nation and the rest areas were completed. A person was walking through the woods when he discovered the bones strewn out across the wooded portion of the rest area, where the trees were freshly planted. After investigators completed their search of the scene and collected all the bones, they were sent to a lab in Tallahassee, where the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement could examine the bones. Afterwards, they were shipped back to Lake City in a box, where they would remain for TEN LONG YEARS! The CCSO immediately ceased to work on the case, hoping that someone would remember the case and come forward with an identity.

Ten years later, in 1988, an investigator had been in the evidence room and came across this box, that was collecting dust. In the box were the bones of the John Doe. The investigator had called for an immediate examination of the bones from Dr. William Maples from the University of Florida and an examination team in Tallahassee. The FBI sent a sketch artist to town to perform a sketch on the John Doe; followed by a clay facial reconstruction of the skull, performed by the Seminole County Sheriffs Office artist, Anne Coy. She also had made a video on the reconstruction, which is locked away at the Sheriffs Office.

The case was not put on the backburner until 2007, when Robert Johnson, the main investigator, retired from the Columbia County Sheriffs Office. According to this informant, the case has switched numerous hands, and has been met with a frenzy. The case has not been considered a matter of urgency for the sheriffs office; as they have "bigger fish to fry" according to the sheriff himself, Mark Hunter.

When Ashley, a team member, had spoken to the sheriff on the cases we are working on, he stated that he was not in the mood for people to play CSI, talked harshly of the Websleuth community, and also continued to politic himself despite the election being over for him two months before. Sheriff Hunter continues to dodge questions related to this case and the 1994 case, and has attempted to discredit our investigation, despite the fact that factual information has been presented.

Where do we go from here? We can definitely use your help now! Thank you,

Jason

Donald Thompson escaped from an Indiana prison on May 5, 1973 and I don't think he has been heard from since. His very distinctive teeth reminded me of this UID.

http://doc-apps.in.gov/demo/wanted/Most_Wantedview.asp?DOC_Number=53424

My first thought as I was reading the firsts posts of this thread was that I-10 was just being built through the FL panhandle in the 70s, and that it might be possible to narrow the time frame down as to when this rest area opened. I still think this is possible, however one of the last posts makes me consider the possibility that this man was buried before the rest area was built, when this was someone's private property? How would that play into things?