TN TN - Murfreesboro, WhtMale 31-45, UP1585, bypass surgery scar, on fire, Aug'78

NamUs: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/1585

Saw there was a John Doe who had a recent article put out by a local news station, and I didn't see a thread for him. http://wkrn.com/2016/09/01/victim-of-brutal-1978-murder-in-rutherford-county-remains-a-john-doe/

NamUs says he's a 31-45 year old white male, with "medium straight brown hair", no facial hair. He was 70 inches tall and was found on August 1, 1978. Under scars and marks, it says "CHEST, DECEASED HAS BYPASS SURGERY SCAR MID ABD0MEN, DACR0N GRAFT AND METAL CLIPS.", and apparently he has unspecified moles as well. According to NamUs, he was skeletal remains. However, the article says:

Deputies were checking out a fire at the Poole Knobs Campground when they made the gruesome discovery.

“Thought it was a pile of trash burning and, upon further inspection, they realized it was a person, and they determined this person was shot multiple times and set a fire,” said Det. Steve Kohler.

The murder was brutal, and the crime scene photos are so bad we can’t show them to you.

Click to expand...

He has DNA and dental, but according to the article, he had upper dentures.

John Doe had scars on his chest, a sign of complicated heart surgery. He also had upper dentures, but detectives can’t track down where they came from.
“We did find out during the investigation that Murfreesboro was a denture bootleg, a bootleg denture hub,” said Det. Kohler.

Click to expand...

Two rule outs listed:

William Bishop, Jr. 1936 Tennessee
James Sanders 1945 Tennessee

There was also a reconstruction:

Date Body Found: August 1, 1978
Location Found: Rutherford County, Tennessee
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton
Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Estimated Age: Adult - Pre 50; 31-45
Estimated Year of Death: 1978
Estimated Height: 5' 10" (70 inches)
Weight: Cannot Estimate
Hair Color: Brown; Gray, has medium straight brown hair
Facial Hair: No
Eye Color: Brown
Scar/mark: Chest, deceased has bypass surgery scar mid abdomen, Dacron graft and metal clips. Has moles on unspecified location

Circumstances of Recovery: Unidentified adult found near Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, TN.

Investigating Agencies
Rutherford County Medical Examiner’s Office:
Barton Warner, Medical Examiner (615) 890-4908
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office: Steve Kohler
University of Tennessee:
Lee Jantz, Forensic Anthropologist (865) 974-4408

ME/C Case Number: UT78-11F

2 Missing Person Exclusions
MP27105 James Sanders 1978 Sumner TN
MP21449 William Bishop, Jr. 1976 Sevier TN

Sources
NamUs UP1585

Could this be James Mann Morris?

- Missing from Henderson, Kentucky since May 1977 (August 1978)
- 30 years old (31-45)
- 5’11” (5’10”)
- 155 lbs.
- black/brown hair (brown)
- hazel eyes (brown)
- Morris was last seen on May 4, 1977. His vehicle was found abandoned in Evansville, Indiana, approximately 10 miles from where he was last seen.
It is believed that Morris was taken to a remote location in Henderson County and shot.

(Some sources list James’ age as 28, and others as 32...his DOB is Aug. 5, 1946...I get 30...I think - no mention of his wearing dentures or having bypass surgery...)

KY - KY - James Mann Morris, 28, Henderson County, 4 May 1977

Victim of brutal 1978 murder in Rutherford County remains a John Doe

'We haven't given up': Rutherford deputies hope to solve 1978 cold case



It's been more than 40 years since a man's body was found shot and partially burned at the Poole Knob Campground near La Vergne.

And while Rutherford County sheriff's deputies have made some strides toward identifying the man, investigators are still trying to figure out who he is in hopes of giving a family some closure.
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Investigators believe the man was killed somewhere else and that his body was dragged to the site where he was burned.
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Autopsy results determined the man was around 5 feet,10 inches tall, in his late 30s and had long, brown hair with a receding hairline and a reddish-brown and gray beard.

He also had scars on his stomach from possible surgery on his aorta. The surgery included a graft using a synthetic material known as Darcon. Natural teeth were discovered but a set of upper dentures appeared to be between five and 10 years old. A quarter-sized mole 2 inches near his waistline.
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His fingerprints and DNA have been submitted to the FBI.
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In 2014, Detective Sgt. Dan Goodwin and former Detective Steve Kohler took over the investigation and began to talk to possible witnesses. Through this, they were able to get a sketch together. The sheriff's office then obtained a skull reconstruction.

Working alongside Dr. Lee Meadows Jantz from the state Forensic Anthropology Center, the man’s DNA was submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System to search for a match, but no results were found.

Rutherford Count Sheriff's Deputies working to solve 1978 cold case

Who is the John Doe found in La Vergne in 1978?



Brinkley is still trying to identify the suspects who killed the unidentified man while focusing on the identity of the victim.
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An autopsy report described the unidentified man as being in his late 30s who was 5-feet-10 tall. He had long, brown hair with a receding hairline and a reddish brown and gray beard.

Some unique features include:

• Scars on his stomach, possibly from a surgery on his aorta using a Dacron graft, a material to replace or repair his blood vessels.

• No natural teeth with upper dentures about five to 10 years old. The dentures were believed to be “bootlegged” with “Solila-Vac” teeth.

• A quarter-sized mole 2 inches near his waistline.

Who is the John Doe found in La Vergne in 1978?

While previous two articles are new from yesterday, I have found 2018 article with lots of extra and interesting information I have not seen mentioned here yet:

===
Published Jan 22, 2018
Do you know La Vergne's John Doe?


(older sketch of the same John Doe, click on image to enlarge)

Called John Doe, the victim was a male between 30 and 40 years old, standing 5'10" and weighing 150-165 pounds. He had brown hair and about two-days beard growth. He had dentures, scars from a vascular surgery and a distinctive mole around his waistline but no other identifying marks.

Kohler said the victim's set of partial upper dentures were a dead end because they were counterfeit, meaning there were no identifying marks to track to a manufacturer.

"Apparently Murfreesboro was a hub for bootlegged dentures in the 1970s," Kohler said.

The only clues to his identity were three scars around his groin, likely from a vascular surgery, called a "Dacron graft." The surgery was invented in the 1950s but still wasn't common in the late '70s.

Little else is known.
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The Crime
Around 6 a.m. Aug. 1, 1978, a groundskeeper at Poole Knobs Campground in La Vergne, Tenn. saw what he thought was a pile of burning garbage. On closer inspection, he discovered a partially nude body of a man, wrapped in a burning blanket on the bank of J. Percy Priest Lake.

The victim had been shot four times – twice in the face – and left in this remote part of Rutherford County, according to news reports at the time. The blanket had been doused in gasoline and lit on fire.

"We're of the opinion that he was shot, probably somewhere else, and dumped here," Rutherford County Sheriff Craig Snell said in an interview the day after the discovery.

An article in the Tennessean from Aug. 2, 1978, said the body of Charles Leroy Hill, 51, of Madison was found at the same location two weeks before. Hill had been beaten and stabbed.
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The Investigation

The original case file only had five black and white photos of the crime scene, notes from the original investigators, the blanket that had covered the body, and Doe's underwear as evidence.

Kohler explained it was common practice to only take a few photos of the scene back then. While now, investigators can take hundreds of photos of a single scene with digital cameras and copious notes.

Doe's remains were then sent to Dr. William Bass, who was director of the forensic anthropology department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and founder of the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility (a.k.a., The Body Farm).

Bass had a sketch of the victim completed and he detached the non-burned hand to have fingerprints collected.

In the past several years, a second sketch was done and a facial reconstruction was completed at UT. Kohler has resubmitted the fingerprints to NCIC and the Department of Defense with no luck.

Do you know La Vergne's John Doe?

Published in 2016
Victim of brutal 1978 murder in Middle Tenn. remains a John Doe

John Doe was one of the first people to be taken to the body farm in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he remains to this day.

Victim of brutal 1978 murder in Middle Tenn. remains a John Doe

They found plenty of info from his body given he was burned and "Near complete or complete skeleton". Is that an error on his NamUs profile?

RSBBM

rats said:

NamUs: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

NamUs says he's a 31-45 year old white male, with "medium straight brown hair", no facial hair. He was 70 inches tall and was found on August 1, 1978. Under scars and marks, it says "CHEST, DECEASED HAS BYPASS SURGERY SCAR MID ABD0MEN, DACR0N GRAFT AND METAL CLIPS.", and apparently he has unspecified moles as well. According to NamUs, he was skeletal remains.

Click to expand...

MadMcGoo said:

View attachment 231610
Date Body Found: August 1, 1978
Location Found: Rutherford County, Tennessee
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton

Click to expand...

YaYa_521 said:

They found plenty of info from his body given he was burned and "Near complete or complete skeleton". Is that an error on his NamUs profile?

RSBBM

Click to expand...

I do think it might be an error. He was badly burned so damage was done and he also might have been partially decomposed but not fully skeletal. According to statements lots of features were still visible.

What is interesting though that another body was found at that location two weeks prior. Definitely sounds like it might be connected, plus it would point that post mortem of this John Doe was less than two weeks as he was not there when first body was found.

A new article on this case...

Rutherford County 1978 cold case: Can DNA samples help ID John Doe?

ctaylor said:

A new article on this case...

Rutherford County 1978 cold case: Can DNA samples help ID John Doe?

Click to expand...

Too fast for us, @ctaylor!

Excellent news!!!

How you can help Rutherford County solve a cold case from 1978 using genetic genealogy



He's the Rutherford County Sheriff Office's John Doe, and with the help of genetic genealogy, the department hopes to discover his real name.
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That's why the department is connecting with Othram, a Texas-based private laboratory that will attempt to build a DNA profile for Doe and use genealogy to hopefully find a relative.
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Brinkley said being able to analyze DNA from deteriorated samples is the company's "calling card," which led the department to contacting them at the suggestion of a forensic DNA analyst.

Othram's work has helped investigators solve cold cases across the country.
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How you can help

The department is raising funds to pay for Othram's analysis, which will cost $5,000. RCSO paid the first $1,000 and is relying on donations for the rest.

In addition to financial donations, Brinkley is hopeful people will contribute their DNA data. Sites like Ancestry and 23andMe share data with Othram.

Even if it can't solve this case, Brinkley said it could help solve future cases.

To donate money or contribute DNA data, visit Who is Rutherford County John Doe (1978)?.

Rutherford County 1978 cold case: Can DNA samples help ID John Doe?

The sheriff’s office announced a new partnership with Othram, a private DNA laboratory that specializes in recovering human DNA to solve murder cases. The cost for the DNA services is $5,000. The sheriff’s office is asking for donations to help cover the cost.

“Try to put yourself in the shoes of the family who is missing this man,” Detective Brinkley said. “Your donations can help a grieving family get answers they’ve sought for 42 years.”

Family members of missing men who believe they might be related to the man are asked to contact Detective Brinkley at (615) 904-3045 or at rbrinkley@rcsotn.org.
Rutherford County officials working to identify man killed 42 years ago | WKRN News 2


Othram's work has helped investigators solve cold cases across the country.

"We help investigators break through previously impenetrable forensic DNA barriers and close previously unsolvable cases," the company says.

Tennessee law enforcement have discovered the remains of 128 unidentified people, according to NamUs, a national database for missing, unidentified and unclaimed people. NamUs has assisted in solving 58 unidentified persons cases in Tennessee.
Rutherford County 1978 cold case: Can DNA samples help ID John Doe?

I've submitted the following cases to NamUs, and to DNASolves.

I've analyzed hundreds of faces, and researched cases with little to no information, and I believe that the Rutherford County Unidentified is missing Nick Marich. Not much is known about Nick Marich. He is a dependent adult last seen on March 4, 1977 in West Hollywood, California. According to the Doe Network, there is no dental, or DNA available. Only fingerprints.

The unidentified was found near a campground in Rutherford County, Tennessee on August 1, 1978. He had been shot, and his body was partially burned. Investigators believe the man was killed somewhere else before being brought to the location.

All things considered, the two men look fairly identical. While the composite sketch of the unidentified doesn't reveal a receding hairline, his autopsy states he does have one, and this aligns with Nick Marich's photo. Note that in the unidentified's composite sketch, the subject has a raised eyebrows expression.




Nick Marich (NamUs #MP22227)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
CA - CA - Nick Marich, 41, West Hollywood, 4 March 1977

Rutherford County Unidentified (NamUs #UP1585)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)