Identified! NV - Wellington, WhtMale 574UMNV, 35-50, Off Sand Canyon Road, Mar'92 - #2 - Vincent Marion Trapp

anthrobones

New Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
1,142
Reaction score
250
WELCOME WEBSLEUTHS MEMBERS. ON THIS THREAD, YOU WILL READ POSTS FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT IN NEVADA ASKING FOR YOUR HELP. ON PAGE 2 YOU WILL FIND THE START OF POSTS FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT. JUMP IN AND HELP US. YOU MIGHT SOLVE THIS COLD CASE!


http://doenetwork.org/cases/574umnv.html


574UMNV.jpg


Unidentified Euroamerican Male


  • The victim was discovered on March 12, 1992 near Wellington, Lyon County, Nevada
  • Cause of Death: A Forensic Anthroplogist found he had been stabbed. A Forensic Pathologist did not identify any stab wounds to the victim.
  • Skeletal Remains

Vital Statistics


  • Estimated age: 35 - 50 years old
  • Approximate Height and Weight: 6'0" - 6'2"
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Reddish hair
  • Dentals: Available. He did have dental work done to his teeth. Dental charting is available as completed by an odontologist. The victim had a root canal completed on tooth number 3 and had been missing 8 teeth before death.
  • Clothing: He was clad only in a pull-over type T-shirt. A complete sock and a partial sock were located nearby. No other clothing was located in the immediate area of the remains. A pair of black athletic shoes, brand name Standia, were found approximately 0.5 miles from the deceased. The shoes themselves were located approximately 160 feet apart from another. A Mervyn's elastic band from a pair of men's underwear size 32 to 34 was located north of the remains. A makeshift campsite was located nearby, within a 105 plus feet, in which the following was found: A blanket, a black hat with the words "Heavenly Lake Tahoe", blue jeans, black men's Haines underpants size 32 to 34. A broken dog collar was also found at the scene.
  • Fingerprints: Not available

Case History
On March 12, 1992, an anonymous phone call was received by the Nevada Highway Patrol in which the caller stated that he had discovered skeletal remains in a canyon off of Sand Canyon Road, approximately a mile east of Highway 338, near Wellington, in Lyon County, Nevada.
In October 1991, an anonymous caller had contacted the Mono County Sheriff's Department stating there was an abandoned vehicle on Highway 338. This vehicle, a 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix, had not been claimed and was found within 2 miles of the discovery of the skeletal remains. This vehicle was registed to a man in Oklahoma.
In October of 1999, this case was reassigned and reactivated. As a result, the owner of the Grand Prix was later located in Colorado and interviewed.
A news release was published on October 6, 1999 asking for the public's help in identifying John Doe. As a result of the news release, a woman who lived within walking distance of the remains said a dog used to come around her residence and would leave in the direction of where John Doe was discovered. She claimed the dog had no collar, and provided a photograph of the dog to detectives.
The dispatch tape containing the anonymous phone call to Lyon County regarding the discovery of the remains was transcribed but still offered no evidence as to the identity of the caller.
Discussions with a Mono County Sheriff's Deputy found that he recalled seeing an abandoned car previously described and thought the car had been registered to an unnamed man. This man was interviewed with no conclusive results at to whether the abandoned car is related to this case.
The Marines have a cold weather training base in Bridgeport, California for which marines throughout the nation attend, the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center. The deserter list was obtained regarding this facility for those who deserted during the time period June 1991 through March 13, 1992. All these names were followed-up with no conclusive conclusion.


Thread #1
 
Update....

The good news is we now have a DNA profile entered into CODIS for our John Doe, which is a huge step in the right direction! Unfortunately, we do not have any "hits" on the profile at this time.

We need your help. Attached is a photograph of a piece of a T-shirt. We believe the T-shirt was originally white. We need your help with identifying the design. Does anyone recognize it? Thank you in advance for your time and efforts!
 

Attachments

  • 0001.jpg
    0001.jpg
    231 KB · Views: 680
Another update...

An earlier poster suggested Brian James Ranken
http://doenetwork.org/cases/505dmca.html

Unfortunately, Brian Ranken has been positively ruled out through dental records. The search continues for both Mr. Ranken and our UID. We are still looking at the other earlier suggestions for possible matches as well as other potential leads. I'll post an update when we get a definitive answer. Thanks again to all!
 
Hi Websleuths Members,

We are very fortunate to have mmarty with us. Mmarty is a verified member of a Nevada Law Enforcement Agency.

Mmarty has come to Websleuths to seek our help with this case.

Please treat mmarty with the utmost respect and remember as a verified member of law enforcement he doesn't need to back up anything he says with a link.

Mmarty, thank you for coming to Websleuths and asking for our help. You will find the members here to be top notch sleuths and willing to help you any way possible.

Take Care,
Tricia
 
Thanks Tricia,

My partner (identified as lcsodetectives on this forum) and I are preparing a time-line of facts for all of you. We appreciate any help you can give us. We do have good dental records and good DNA, all of which have been entered into the system. We would ask you to keep in mind that some of the information already discussed in this thread has been vetted and proved to be no related to our case. Some of that information has also proved to be, in fact, relevant. Our time-line and update will have all of the factual information that we have on our subject and this case. The link to our subject in NAMUS is here https://identifyus.org/en/cases/7582

We should have an update for you on this site within 24 hours.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
In an effort to clarify some of the facts and timeline of this case...

On March 12, 1992 a male caller reports that he found a skeleton in Sand Canyon and provides detailed directions to the location. The caller refuses to identify himself. Law enforcement locates the remains the next day.

The body was nearly completely skeletonized. The victim was aged between 35 and 50 and stood between 6’0” and 6’3”. He had reddish/brown hair.

The victim had dental work done, to include a root canal. The victim was missing several teeth prior to his death. The victim had been stabbed. The body was missing both hands and feet.

The body was clad only in what remains of a T-shirt. The shirt has a partial design of what appears to be a bird with outstretched wings with an orange circle (likely a stylized sun) in the background.

A pair of Levi Strauss 517 pants in relatively good condition was found inside of a moving blanket that was covered in white paint. The moving blanket and pants were found nearby. The pants are 32W by 36L. Men’s brief-type underwear were found nearby as well as a black Heavenly Lake Tahoe hat. The clothing was scattered over a broad area.

A pair of black Stadia shoes was located about a half mile away from the remains. There is evidence the shoes were too small for whoever wore them. There is also evidence the shoes had been repaired in somewhat of a unique manner. It is unknown at this time if the shoes actually have anything to do with this case.

At the time the body was located, a deputy sheriff on scene recalled handling an abandoned vehicle in October of 1991 (7 months prior to body discovery). An anonymous caller called this particular abandoned vehicle into the Mono County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle, a 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix, with Oklahoma plates, was found along Highway 338, about two miles from where the remains were found. The vehicle was found in a manner that suggested whoever put it there was trying to conceal it. The registered owner was ultimately located and interviewed, but nothing conclusive came out of the interview. The vehicle may or may not have anything to do with this case.

In 1999 this investigation was reactivated and a press release was put out. As a result, a woman who lives nearby reported she started seeing a dog come around her property about 9 months prior to the discovery of the body. The dog would leave in the direction where the body would later be found. The woman took a picture of the dog.

There was a dog collar located in the area of the remains however it is unknown how close the collar was located to the body. This photo was taken to area veterinarians, but no identifications were made. This dog may or may not have belonged to the victim. Nothing definitive to prove it either way was ever found.

In 2014, the case is reassigned again. Utilizing modern technology, a DNA profile of the victim was developed and entered into CODIS.

The clothing evidence will be re-processed utilizing modern technology in the near future. At that time, hopefully there will be conclusive proof as to whether or not any of the clothing and shoes belonged to the victim. Additionally, an isotope analysis of the victim’s hair will be done in the near future which could reveal clues regarding where the victim had been prior to his death.

A consultation was done with Texas State University regarding the condition of the remains in hopes of narrowing the time of death. Based on this report, we believe the victim probably died sometime between 4 and 14 months prior to discovery.

Previous investigators had the subject’s skull sent to a facial reconstruction artist. Those pictures are one artist’s rendition of what they believed our subject might have looked like. Detectives are sending the skull out to be reconstructed again for another perspective on what our subject may have looked like.

Other investigative leads have been developed as a result of the fresh look at this case, however these will not be publicly discussed at this time.

Further photos will be posted at a later time.

Please contact via private message lcsodetectives or mmarty with any leads on this case. Please keep in mind that while we can't always comment on certain aspects of the investigation, we do read these posts and we appreciate any and all ideas!
 
Correction...
The abandoned car was found 5 months prior to the body discovery, not 7 months as stated in my previous post.

Some excellent questions have been raised, some of which we can not publicly discuss, but here are answers to some that we can:

Can you provide more information about the 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix and its owner? Any details would be helpful.

We can't provide the identity of the owner, but we will look into what details we can provide about the car that may or may not help with identifying the victim. We will follow up with a later post on this.

In the photo of the dog, is he wearing a collar?

The dog doesn't appear to be wearing a collar in the photo. Here is the photo:

View attachment 72363

Can you tell what color eyes the deceased he had?

As of right now, no. The remains were almost completely skeletonized. However, DNA technology may be able to help us answer that question at some point. I know there are advances being made as far as using DNA to identify characteristics of an individual.

Does the owner of the car have ties to Albuquerque or Texas in 1990? Is he in the construction field?

Interesting question. Please PM me with your thoughts on this and what leads you ask.

might of already been looked at but have you looked at Dean Thomas Spencer?

The Doe Network page indicates the photo on the far right is a photo of Spencer in December 1991. His hair is far too gray in that photo to be our UID. We are looking to post an appropriate photo of the actual hair found at the scene. We will follow up with this in a later post.

As for the questions we can't discuss, they are still helpful to us! The smallest thing could lead to the next clue. My partner and I feel this is a very solvable case. The answer is out there.

Here is something else to think about as you look at missing persons cases...
As we have searched databases, my partner and I have found a striking number of cases that weren't reported until many years later. Remember that the date last seen is often a date which the reporting person provides, which could be inaccurate (sometimes intentionally), especially as the years go by. Due to this, don't be afraid to post possible matches just because they were alleged to have been seen after the discovery of John Doe.
 

Attachments

  • Dog.jpg
    Dog.jpg
    14.5 KB · Views: 489
Once the pic of the hair is posted, you will see just how red it is. There is no doubt his hair was mainly reddish brown. I am curious as to why you ask about New Mexico and Texas. The dog was not wearing a collar in the photo, nor did the witness see the dog wearing a collar at any time. The local vet in the area did rule out ever seeing that particular dog in the area. My partner and I thank all of you for taking a look at this for us and helping out.

Thanks again!
 
This "Campsite" was not a campsite at all. It was originally described as such, but it doesn't appear from what was recovered that it was actually a campsite at all. It is our theory that what was once thought to be a campsite might possibly be a blanket that was used to carry/conceal/wrap our subject in and other "typical desert trash" that is common in the area.
 
To focus on the car that was called in by an anonymous subject (strange coincidence, which I rarely believe in), it was placed in such a way to be considered "hidden".
 
Please keep the possibles coming in. We have searched NaMUS and other locations, but until we hand search and verify the dental records we can't rule them out (which it appears my partner and I are doing at the same time right now). We greatly appreciate any suggestions and it is quick for us to be able to rule out subjects who have obvious dental work that is not a match for our subject. We've also learned through this that familial DNA has to be requested for comparison and isn't just done automatically, so our guy's DNA could be in the system, we just need to know where it is and who to check it against. Dental charting is the same, in a sense, and unless the records are queried at the specific time, we may not get a match. Does that answer your question?
 

Attachments

  • John Doe Hair.JPG
    John Doe Hair.JPG
    120.3 KB · Views: 596
The hair looks like it has not been color treated.
 
If possible, I'd like some clarification from the detectives if they would like me to continue adding "ALL" our suggestions to the master document with the detailed comparisons below- regardless of whether the person has brown or strawberry or light blonde or dark blonde hair. I think we should add them all and we can easily type in a RULED OUT if all other information doesn't match.

Yes, please add them all, regardless of whether or not the hair appears to match. Hair color is only one aspect. I wouldn't rule out anyone based solely on hair color since it can be easily changed. For example, Dean Spencer's hair is nearly completely gray in the December 1991 photo. The way you have the note next to his name on the master list "Not moved forward at this time" is perfect. I wouldn't call it a "rule out" until something much more definitive (dentals, DNA, etc.) is compared. That way we can focus our efforts and resources on more obvious matches first. When we get all those ruled out, we can start taking a second look at some of the ones that don't appear to be as promising.

Hopefully that makes sense. The list is looking great so far! Great way to keep all these potential matches organized so nobody falls through the cracks.
 
I'm seeing conflicting states where the owner of the car lived. I thought the detectives said Oklahoma? But I'm seeing on namus Colorado? Which state is he from so that we can search that state in case it is related and the person disappeared from that state.

The vehicle was registered out of Oklahoma at the time it was located, the owner was later contacted in Colorado.
 
You guys are sure finding a lot of "near misses" with the shirt design. We knew it was a long shot at best when we posted the pic. The response to this thread has been amazing, even hard to keep up with at times! Thank you to everyone for your hard work with this!

Concerning the shoes, keep in mind they were found a half mile away. They may or may not have anything to do with the case. I can tell you from personal experience that although the body was found in a rather remote area, the road is somewhat well traveled. In fact, my partner and I revisited the scene not too long ago and in the span of about 45 minutes, we saw a vehicle on the road. In other words, it's not uncommon (unfortunately) to find trash in remote areas such as this. We are not opposed to posting pics of the shoes, but we are having lab work done first which will hopefully give us a better idea of whether or not they are connected to the victim.
 
What do you guys think of this hawk? I know it is on a backpack but it looks very close, or pretty much identical IMO. I googled "70's hawk shirt" and this popped up. Here is the link; http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.loveitsomuch.com/uploads/201212/06/70/70s%252520rare%252520mark%252520pack%252520works%252520red%252520tail%252520hawk%252520cordura%252520daypack%252520backpack-f57852.jpg&imgrefurl=http://dafortun.loveitsomuch.com/stores/70s-rare-mark-pack-works-red-tail-hawk,436889.html&h=407&w=570&tbnid=EKJMEZ80gsZAQM:&zoom=1&docid=kzZ1pXwIAC6btM&ei=3oQsVerSOO3fsASzsoH4Aw&tbm=isch&ved=0CAoQMygCMAI4ZA

View attachment 73069

ETA: At this link there are other images of the backpack with enlargements and in one of the images there is an artist's name at the bottom and next to the name is says 1975. I am unable to make out the name, perhaps Jim and a last name starting with the letter K? But that is just a guess. https://www.etsy.com/listing/110211620/70s-rare-mark-pack-works-red-tail-hawk
 

Attachments

  • theehawk.jpg
    theehawk.jpg
    52.7 KB · Views: 410
Thank you everyone. I haven't been feeling well the last few days so I havn't been on WS, but something told me to hop on here tonight because I was thinking about this poor guy cause I've been following this from the start, and really love that there are 2 detectives so devoted to getting this man his name back, and so I read over some of what i've been missing and felt like I should try my millionth search for this hawk shirt, not expecting much...but then...there it was! I had to yell at my hubby to come look at it and make sure I wasn't just imagining things cause i've looked at so many hawks lol.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
95
Guests online
1,501
Total visitors
1,596

Forum statistics

Threads
589,176
Messages
17,915,136
Members
227,745
Latest member
branditau.wareham72@gmail
Back
Top