NV NV - Wellington, WhtMale 574UMNV, 35-50, off Sand Canyon Road, Mar'92 - #1

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anthrobones

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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.

 
The profile says that a pair of athletic shoes by Standia were found ~0.5 mile from the remains. I googled "Standia shoes" and found that Standia is a town in Utah, but no brand name of "Standia" for shoes. Anyone else--ideas??

Heavenly Lake Tahoe (name on the hat found) is a ski and snowboarding resort in California and Nevada.

Mervyn's has been around for a while right?

Also, I thought the Hanes underwear company was spelled "Hanes," not "Haines" as listed in the profile.
 
Unless it was a typo and meant Skandia, a European company that sells higher end boots and such.
 
This website had lots more info. As far as I can tell its the same case.

The Nevada Division of Investigation is again asking for help from the public in identifying the skeletal remains of an adult male found in Sand Canyon on March 12, 1992 outside of Wellington, Nevada. Investigators indicate the victim's death was a result of multiple stab wounds. Because of a previous public request for help, a witness came forward with a photograph of a dog believed to have been owned by the victim. The witness, who does not want their name published, stated that the dog started coming onto her property looking for food about four months prior to the discovery of the body and continued to come onto her property for a couple of months after the discovery of the property. The witness' property is within a half mile of Sand Canyon. At the scene where the body was discovered a broken dog collar was found leading investigators to believe this dog may have been the victim's dog. . .
Note: There was also a car found and other info listed on this website.
http://www.dmvnv.com/news/99-186.htm
 
I'm very surprised that nothing could be found from the vehicle's registration or VIN number.
 
shadowangel said:
I'm very surprised that nothing could be found from the vehicle's registration or VIN number.
They seem to be sitting on that info. It might have been a rental under an assumed name or maybe the rental records have been destroyed or maybe they did trace the car but have reasons to not tell the public yet.
 
Very possible. My thought was that the paperwork had never been processed-LE may have traced it back to the previous owner who sold it for to cash to "some nice guy with a dog".
 
docwho3 said:
They seem to be sitting on that info. It might have been a rental under an assumed name or maybe the rental records have been destroyed or maybe they did trace the car but have reasons to not tell the public yet.
In the first post it says the vehicle was registed to a man in Oklahoma.
 
Yaya said:
In the first post it says the vehicle was registed to a man in Oklahoma.
LOL - You are right. I should slow down and read more of the first posts in a thread.
 
docwho3 said:
LOL - You are right. I should slow down and read more of the first posts in a thread.
Doc... don't worry about it. You wouldn't believe how many times I have become confused and had to go back and reread 3 or 4 pages to find something... or posted and Shadow PM'd me to say I had gotten two cases confused so I could go back and save my pride and remove the post...LOL :crazy:

I'll watch your back and next time PM you :)
 
I'm gonna talk to a former Storey county sheriff I know and see if he can shed some light on this case for us.
 
The two different items (the DMV link and the Doe link) provide quite different details. I am going to restate the known facts here and people can comment on whether my sequence is correct.

In October 1991, someone reported an abandoned Pontiac Grand Prix to the Mono County (California) Sheriff's Dept. An unspecified sheriff's officer thought the Pontiac belonged to a particular person who was interviewed by LE but did not shed much light on the matter. Inside the vehicle was a real estate secion of a Sparks Nevada newspaper (date unspecified). Investigation revealed that the car was registered to a man in Oklahoma.

Around December 1991, a woman who lives near Sand Canyon, Nevada starts seeing an uncollared dog, gives it food and it walked in the direction where the skeletal remains were eventually found in March. She took a picture of the dog.

In March 1992, an anonymous call comes in saying there is a skeleton and they find the UID's remains wearing only a t-shirt. Socks were nearby. Assorted clothing items were found about .5 miles from the remains as was a makeshift campsite and the broken dog collar.

in 1999, as a result of a facial construction, and new publicity, LE finally tracked down the registered owner of the Grand Prix who was then living in Colorado. He was not able to provide much information.

LE checked with a list of marine deserters from a nearby CA marine base and they were not able to definitively state whether the UID was a deserter.


Oddly, I did not see where an estimated date of death was given here. Assuming I have the sequence correct, a starting assumption would be that the man was killed between October and December which is between the date the vehicle was noticed (no proof it was his though) and when the dog started scrounging around for food.

Several things jump out at me. one - what do they mean by EuroAmerican Male? White? Second is the car - I doubt the car has anything to do with the UID. I see no reason why a guy living in a makeshift camp would be looking to buy real estate in Sparks. Third is the clothing - it must get chilly at least at night in that area in October when he may have been killed. I see only one reason for the lack of clothing and not to get graphic but I can't help but think he was eaten by animals, possibly the dog and the clothing got in the way.

I wonder if the clothing found near the campsite fit the UID, particularly the sneakers.
 
To be very black and white about it, he was most likely eaten by animals. Most of the skeleonized remains they find up here are scattered around due to animals eating them.

I want to know if the car was stolen.
 
UID is in Namus with one rule out, Douglas Meer:

https://identifyus.org/cases/7582

these are the circumstances as stated by Namus:

Anonymous male contacted Nevada Highway Patrol on 03/12/92 @ 1700 regarding skeletal remains of a human being. Due to daylight, Law Enforcement found remains at 1130 hours on 03/12/92. Shallow grave found near the remains. Bone fragments found as far as 75 feet from remains. Animal activity noted. Hands and feet were missing. Foul play suspected.

I would think a shallow grave would not imply death by natural causes. I wonder if they had any conclusions as to whether the hands and feet were hacked off or if they felt that was animal activity?

sadly with no fingerprints and no DNA they can only match on dentals.
 
Oh my gosh that makes me so sad that the dog was trying to get help.
 
Here are two possible matches:

David Milton Black
Missing since August 26, 1991 from Sunnyvale, California.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/585dmca.html

Christopher Conrad Huffman
Missing since April 15, 1991 from Pasadena, California.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/696dmca.html

There isn't really much to rule or not rule these two out.

Hi Jupiter,

I really see a good possible with David M Black. His hair seems likelier to be called red/brown. I don't see the same reddish tone in Christopher Huffman's hair, although I know lots of men with brown hair who, with a little time in the sun, start to show some red.

Their heights both match, and the scar on DMB and tattoos on CCH would not indicate one way or another due to the condition of the remains. Circumstances for both men are also consistent with John Doe.

I looked around online and couldn't find much info regarding possible dogs.

These are good matches. Have you submitted them? I think you should.
 
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