AR AR - Marked Tree, BlkMale 661UMAR, 16-19, Skull in ditch near St Francis River, Aug'01

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Doe Case 664UMAR
(This appears to be the relevant Doe Case, although the forensic sketch bears little resemblance)
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/661umar.html

Jerry Lee Armstrong
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/armstrong_jerry.html

Source:
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/found+remains+could+solve+30-year+old+cold+case

Found Remains Could Solve 30-Year Old Cold Case

Desoto County, Mississippi Sheriff's investigators have learned the remains of a Hernando High School football player, missing since 1977, may have been found in Arkansas.

FOX13 first aired the Jerry Lee Armstrong cold case in September. Since then the FBI got involved and the sheriff's deputies say they've received a lot of new information.

Investigators say they're excited about the progress in the case and hope to use DNA to positively identify remains found in Arkansas and bring the family some answers.

Commander Fred Perez with the Desoto County Sheriff's Office says the remains of 18-year old Jerry Lee Armstrong, missing for nearly 32 years, may have been found in Poinsett County, Arkansas.

Perez says, "This case seems to get more interesting every day. We got a call from the medical examiner in Little Rock saying they found remains and the computer indicates it could be a possible match."

Armstrong disappeared from Hernando, Mississippi December 23rd, 1977. That night, he drove to prom at the National Guard Armory in his brother's 1973 white Pontiac Le Mans. It was the last time the Hernando High School football player or the car was seen.

The remains, found in Poinsett County, are believed to be around 30 years old. The Medical Examiner determined they belong to an African American male between 16 and 19 years old.

Poinsett County is about an hour and a half northwest of Hernando.

Perez says, "They haven't been able to find any missing persons this would match up with and proximity to us. How do I say this? It's encouraging."

The remains were found in 2001 in the St. Francis River, by a fisherman. Investigators say they were once buried.

Perez says, "the remains were unearthed because of their proximity to river. They washed up when the river went down, that's why fisherman was able to see something that looked unusual."

Investigators are now collecting DNA from Armstrong's surviving family members in hopes of making a positive ID.
The potential match was discovered just a few weeks ago, because Armstrongs' information was just entered into a national database designed to help identify unknown remains.

Perez says, "I think it's something could have been done years ago but again not a lot of proactive things were done on this case."

Perez feels the case was not investigated properly, but says he and the new sheriff are dedicated to giving it the attention it deserves and hope to bring the Armstrong family closure.

Perez says they hope to have the DNA results back in 6 months and hopes they'll be able to determine a cause of death.

If you have information about the case, call Desoto County Crime Stoppers at
662-429-TIPS (8477). As always you can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Perez is also interested in a 1986 newspaper article about a car that was excavated on the East side of Desoto County in a an area called Dark Corners.

There was not a picture of the car.

In the article, the writer says investigators asked them to not publish it for a few days because it might "hinder their investigation."

Perez says, "We have nothing in our file that indicates anything about the investigation." He says it's possible it could be the Le Mans Armstrong was driving that night. The LeMans was actually Armstrong's brother's car.

The Armstrong family always thought Jerry Lee was murdered as a result of mistaken identity. They feel whoever killed Jerry Lee was really after his brother, who was dating a white girl at the time.

Perez says newspaper articles from the 1970's show the KKK was active in the area at the time.

He says if the remains turn out to be Armstrong's and if the medical examiner determines foul play was involved, Perez says, "to think it's not racially motivated would be naive."
 
Thanks for posting that story. I can see keeping the photo of the unearthed Le Mans out of the papers for a short while, a few days or weeks maybe, but 24 years later? If it had been published maybe someone would have been willing to talk about seeing a backhoe at the car's burial site in 1977.

I hope that if that same someone is still alive today, that he or she is willing to talk now so justice can be served.
 
Thanks for posting that story. I can see keeping the photo of the unearthed Le Mans out of the papers for a short while, a few days or weeks maybe, but 24 years later? If it had been published maybe someone would have been willing to talk about seeing a backhoe at the car's burial site in 1977.

I hope that if that same someone is still alive today, that he or she is willing to talk now so justice can be served.

If this was the Le Mans, wouldn't it be pretty easy to do a VIN check and find out that it was related to this missing persons case?

If it was the Le Mans, someone definitely dropped the ball.

BTW, it doesn't say that the unearthed car was a LeMans.
 
My bad, I assumed it was the Le Mans if the newspaper was asked not to publish the photo of the car that was found. I personally doubt that LE would ask the newspaper not to publish the car photo if it was only part of suspected insurance fraud (i.e. bury the car, claim it was stolen) but I could see holding off publishing it immediately if it was part of a missing person/murder investigation. So I think there's a very strong possibility that this was the Le Mans.

If nobody from LE remembers what model of car was unearthed in 1986, Perez should inquire at the newspaper. Many papers keep an archive room of old photos and articles, and even if the photo was never published it may have been saved.
 
... I personally doubt that LE would ask the newspaper not to publish the car photo if it was only part of suspected insurance fraud (i.e. bury the car, claim it was stolen) but I could see holding off publishing it immediately if it was part of a missing person/murder investigation. So I think there's a very strong possibility that this was the Le Mans. ...

There is also the possibility that the buried car is associated with some other unrelated murder investigation.

If it was related to this case, it seems strange that they would not notify the LE agency in charge of investigating it.

(unless, for example, they suspect that the perp is a high-ranking official in that LE agency.)
 
I spoke with Chris Edwards several weeks ago regarding several cases that I have pending. While I had him on the phone, I asked him about whether this case had ever been resolved. He said that he would look into it.

He responded today that since the CODIS hit in November, they still have not been able to confirm the hit. The Skull is at NCMEC, and the Arkansas crime lab is waiting to get it back, so that they can take another DNA sample.

He will make a follow-up request to get the skull back from NCMEC.
 
I spoke with Chris Edwards again regarding four cases that I had inquiries on (this case being one of them).

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/661umar.html

On this case, he sais that he doesn't think there was a CODIS hit to Jerry Lee Armstrong on this case after-all. He would have resolved it quickly (and remembered that he had) if there had been a CODIS hit.

Note: The news article didn't actually say CODIS. It said that the hit came from the national database, which I interpreted to mean CODIS. But it might just be that it was a NamUs suggested match.

ETA: It couldn't be a NamUs suggested match. Jerry Lee Armstrong is not in NamUs.

On this case, Chris Edwards says that there was a boy named Stevie Willis whose headless body was found years prior in the same area, and they are thinking that this skull might be his. They are in contact with Stevie Willis' family to get a DNA sample to confirm this.
 
that is what it sounds like to me (a cover up)

There is also the possibility that the buried car is associated with some other unrelated murder investigation.

If it was related to this case, it seems strange that they would not notify the LE agency in charge of investigating it.

(unless, for example, they suspect that the perp is a high-ranking official in that LE agency.)
 
With so little to go on, there are a number of missing cases that resemble this one. I did notice this guy had a scar on his nose, which would be consistent:

Missing Person Case

DNA is also available.
 
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Original

Exclusions
-- Stephen Beard -- -- MD
MP26967 Lavorn Frye 09/30/1991 Mississippi AR
MP12138 Robert Webb 07/04/1995 White AR
 
Feb 9 2023

''Summary​

In August 2001, a fisherman in Marked Tree, Arkansas discovered a partial skull while fishing in a ditch off the St. Francis River. The remains were discovered in a wooded area along the river, near the old siphons on Lock and Dam Road. No additional remains that were matched to the unidentified young man were recovered.

DNA testing performed by investigators confirmed that the skull was that of a Black male, who investigators believe was likely between the ages of 16 and 19 years old at the time of his death. However, due to the limited recovery of the unknown young man’s remains, investigators were unable to make definitive determinations about his hair color, eye color, height, or weight during his life. Investigators did note a slightly healed fracture to the young man’s nose, although they were unable to determine when the injury had occurred. Additionally, investigators observed that all of the young man’s upper teeth had been broken off and no mandible was recovered, so his dental characteristics are unknown. Investigators believe that he died more than a year prior to the discovery of his remains, and that it is possible that his death was a homicide.

Since the discovery of the unknown young man’s remains, law enforcement investigators have diligently pursued various leads about his identity, but none have returned a match for his identity. A composite sketch was created by a Forensic Artist at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, depicting what the man may have looked like during his life. In September 2009, the case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as #UP5876. Despite the exhaustive efforts of law enforcement, the man’s identity has remained a mystery. With few leads for investigators to pursue, the case went cold.

In 2023, the Poinsett County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Othram to determine if advanced forensic DNA testing could help establish an identity for the man or a close relative. Anyone with information that could aid in this investigation is encouraged to contact the Poinsett County Sheriff Department by calling 870-578-5411 and referencing agency case P01-541 or NamUs ID #UP5876.''
 
DNA would also tell investigators some details about John Doe. It was determined that John Doe was black and between 16 to 19-years-old at the time of his death. Putting his birth year from 1982 – 1985.

Felkins said police searched for the boy’s identity, following leads of missing persons, to no avail.

”We investigated some missing persons that have been brought to our attention but we haven’t been able to identify him yet,” he said.

Now, the police department has partnered with Othram, a private company that specializes in forensic genealogy.

The practice is relatively new, it uses publicly available genealogy databases to find familial links to DNA.

Forensic genealogy has already helped previously unsolved crimes and it could help identify Poinsett County’s John Doe to his family.

“If we could get it solved, find out, we put a name with the skull, because I’m hoping there’s family out there who’s missing him,” Felkins said. “It falls on us to try and find out what his name is. I think it would be our burden to bear now and it has been for the past 22 years… and we hope to do that.”

The cost of testing can get expensive, but Felkins said the public can help.

“A citizen can donate money to help finance this testing. It’s very costly so every little bit helps, and I know the family of whoever this young man is would appreciate it also,” he said.

Below is the link to donate to help solve the Poinsett County John Doe case:
Who is Poinsett County John Doe (2001)?

 

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