PonderingThings
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I tried a search on the Doe Network and didn't come up with this one.
[URL]http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/13455589.htm[/URL]
Skull reconstruction suggests a likeness of the Caucasian male, approximately 40 to 60 years old.
Posted on Wed, Dec. 21, 2005
Investigators try to put a face on skeleton found in '02
By Sean Webby
Mercury News
The man was dressed for the elements -- hiking boots, a ski cap, two sweaters and two pairs of pants, layered almost as though he expected to spend some time in the rugged, chilly hills above San Jose.
He spent years.
A hiker found his scattered skeleton near a trail in Joseph D. Grant County Park east of San Jose in December 2002, about five years after it was estimated he had died.
Was he a homeless man who died, disoriented and far from help, as the sun set and the temperature plummeted on the shoulders of Mount Hamilton? Was there foul play?
Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department released a photograph of what they believe the man's face and head may have looked like in life. Authorities are hoping that the model -- created by an investigator with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office -- will bring out someone who knew the middle-age mystery man. Maybe someone can help explain how he died.
But right now the man with an arthritic shoulder and bad teeth is known only by his coroner's case number: 02-04408.
``This may have been a transient person who died of exposure,'' said Serg Palanov, a spokesman for the sheriff's department. ``There is no evidence of foul play of any kind. But he's way up in the boonies. There are sometimes pot growths up in there. Was he camping? Lost? We just don't know.''
The Santa Clara Coroner's Office gets about two or three John or Jane Does a month. Almost all are eventually identified through fingerprints, dental records and, increasingly, DNA. But occasionally, as in this case, investigators are stumped.
``When it comes to the point of using forensic artists, it's a last resort,'' said Kevin Richlin, a forensic reconstruction artist.
Richlin -- a former detective who has done six other reconstructions including one that led to the identification of a Sunnyvale homicide victim in the late 1980s -- was brought into the case seven months ago.
The 44-year-old began his forensic art career doodling cartoons of his fellow officers, and eventually began drawing composite sketches of suspects. For Case 02-04408, he studied facial bones from a partial skull and measured ``tissue depth markers.''
With the help of Lorna Pierce, a forensic anthropologist, Richlin factored in race and age range. Slowly, sometimes after his work day had ended, the investigator packed Klean Clay -- a pliable tan-toned clay -- around the weathered skull. Sometimes he just guessed, using a mix of scientific ranges and artistic license.
A face emerged. He was strong-jawed, offset by a slight double chin, a small mouth and a prominent nose. His ears stuck out slightly.
Richlin used brown prosthetic eyes -- by far the most prevalent human eye color, but really just a statistical hedge bet. The same mindset went into the man's stark hairless appearance. He could have had long hair and a shaggy beard, Richlin said.
Richlin used a computer-imaging program to clean up and recolor the victim's dirty and partially decomposed ski hat and superimposed it on his head.
Other evidence scattered near his bones left tantalizing glimpses of who he was: a watch on a black cloth band, a cigarette case with the rolling paper brand name of `Job'' imprinted on its silver cover. Palanov pointed out that the watch might be evidence that the man was not robbed, even though he had no wallet or other identification.
There is even a name stamped on the inside of the waistband of one of the pairs of pants he was wearing: ``J.M. Lacey.''
Was this 02-04408's name?
Investigators found no local records of anyone missing by that name. Was he a member of the military, whose branches sometimes stamp the name of people on their uniforms. Or did the victim pick up the pants at a Goodwill store?
``I want to see this person identified,'' said Richlin, who is already at work on his next reconstruction, a woman whose case police won't discuss. ``There is a family out there missing a loved one.''
Contact Sean Webby at swebby@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5003.
***********************
In an earlier article it said he was 5'11" and could be as young as 35.
[URL]http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/13455589.htm[/URL]
Skull reconstruction suggests a likeness of the Caucasian male, approximately 40 to 60 years old.
Posted on Wed, Dec. 21, 2005
Investigators try to put a face on skeleton found in '02
By Sean Webby
Mercury News
The man was dressed for the elements -- hiking boots, a ski cap, two sweaters and two pairs of pants, layered almost as though he expected to spend some time in the rugged, chilly hills above San Jose.
He spent years.
A hiker found his scattered skeleton near a trail in Joseph D. Grant County Park east of San Jose in December 2002, about five years after it was estimated he had died.
Was he a homeless man who died, disoriented and far from help, as the sun set and the temperature plummeted on the shoulders of Mount Hamilton? Was there foul play?
Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department released a photograph of what they believe the man's face and head may have looked like in life. Authorities are hoping that the model -- created by an investigator with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office -- will bring out someone who knew the middle-age mystery man. Maybe someone can help explain how he died.
But right now the man with an arthritic shoulder and bad teeth is known only by his coroner's case number: 02-04408.
``This may have been a transient person who died of exposure,'' said Serg Palanov, a spokesman for the sheriff's department. ``There is no evidence of foul play of any kind. But he's way up in the boonies. There are sometimes pot growths up in there. Was he camping? Lost? We just don't know.''
The Santa Clara Coroner's Office gets about two or three John or Jane Does a month. Almost all are eventually identified through fingerprints, dental records and, increasingly, DNA. But occasionally, as in this case, investigators are stumped.
``When it comes to the point of using forensic artists, it's a last resort,'' said Kevin Richlin, a forensic reconstruction artist.
Richlin -- a former detective who has done six other reconstructions including one that led to the identification of a Sunnyvale homicide victim in the late 1980s -- was brought into the case seven months ago.
The 44-year-old began his forensic art career doodling cartoons of his fellow officers, and eventually began drawing composite sketches of suspects. For Case 02-04408, he studied facial bones from a partial skull and measured ``tissue depth markers.''
With the help of Lorna Pierce, a forensic anthropologist, Richlin factored in race and age range. Slowly, sometimes after his work day had ended, the investigator packed Klean Clay -- a pliable tan-toned clay -- around the weathered skull. Sometimes he just guessed, using a mix of scientific ranges and artistic license.
A face emerged. He was strong-jawed, offset by a slight double chin, a small mouth and a prominent nose. His ears stuck out slightly.
Richlin used brown prosthetic eyes -- by far the most prevalent human eye color, but really just a statistical hedge bet. The same mindset went into the man's stark hairless appearance. He could have had long hair and a shaggy beard, Richlin said.
Richlin used a computer-imaging program to clean up and recolor the victim's dirty and partially decomposed ski hat and superimposed it on his head.
Other evidence scattered near his bones left tantalizing glimpses of who he was: a watch on a black cloth band, a cigarette case with the rolling paper brand name of `Job'' imprinted on its silver cover. Palanov pointed out that the watch might be evidence that the man was not robbed, even though he had no wallet or other identification.
There is even a name stamped on the inside of the waistband of one of the pairs of pants he was wearing: ``J.M. Lacey.''
Was this 02-04408's name?
Investigators found no local records of anyone missing by that name. Was he a member of the military, whose branches sometimes stamp the name of people on their uniforms. Or did the victim pick up the pants at a Goodwill store?
``I want to see this person identified,'' said Richlin, who is already at work on his next reconstruction, a woman whose case police won't discuss. ``There is a family out there missing a loved one.''
Contact Sean Webby at swebby@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5003.
***********************
In an earlier article it said he was 5'11" and could be as young as 35.
