MN MN - Minneapolis - AsianMale (1694UMMN), 35-45, in Nicollet Channel of MS Rvr, Sep'96

[CarlK90245]

I am starting this thread for a newbie who doesn't yet have thread starting capabilities.

The Doe Network:
Case File: 1694UMMN http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1694UMMN.html
NamUs UP Case 761 https://identifyus.org/en/cases/761

Unidentified Asian Male
Date of Discovery: September 18, 1996
Location of Discovery: Mississippi River, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Estimated Date of Death: 1996
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description
** Listed information is approximate

Estimated Age: 35-45 years old
Race: Asian
Gender: Male
Height: 5'8" to 5'10"
Weight: 180-200 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Unknown

Identifiers
Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: mtDNA and nucDNA available with FBI NMPDD (ref# UHRS09-02236-1A).

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Long blue pants, white socks, and blue/white Reebock shoe on right foot (size 10.5).
Jewelry: Rumours white metal watch with black rubber/plastic wristband.

Case History

The decedent was found in the Mississippi River 50 yards north of the 1st Avenue bridge in the Nicollet Channel.

[valsaid]

Thank you so much CarlK! I'm the newbie without posting capabilities. I've been lurking on Websleuths for a while now and I know how proficient you guys are in looking at cases like this. I know we don't have a lot of information, but any and all help would be so appreciated. I've been scrolling through cases on the Charley Project looking for matches. For whatever reason, there aren't many Asian people listed so it's not as time-consuming as it sounds. Do you guys have any more tips for me on what I should be doing? Thanks so much!

[CarlK90245]

I only have three Asian males missing within a year of the John Doe's discovery who fit the age specs.



Le Tung Dinh http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/dinh_le.html
Dean Toshio Tanaka http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/tanaka_dean.html
Olin Apatiki might be mistaken as Asian, though he is actually Native Alaskan. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/apatiki_olin.html

There is only a five-day lag between Tanaka's disappearance and the John Doe's discovery. I'm not sure of the degree of decomposition of the UID, so I can't say whether the timeframe or tattoos would rule-out Tanaka.

But nevertheless, I don't see how any of them would end up in Minnesota from California or Alaska, though there is nothing to indicate that it isn't possible.

[valsaid]

Do you think any of the three are good enough matches to contact LE about? I was looking at Dean Tanaka and everything besides the tattoos and where he cam from make him a perfect match to this UID. I don't think any of these three are on the rule-out list either. I wish we had more specifics on the amount of putrefaction..

[CarlK90245]

Originally Posted by valsaid

Do you think any of the three are good enough matches to contact LE about? I was looking at Dean Tanaka and everything besides the tattoos and where he cam from make him a perfect match to this UID. I don't think any of these three are on the rule-out list either. I wish we had more specifics on the amount of putrefaction..

I don't feel strongly enough about any of these three to call them in.

I don't think there is enough time for Tanaka to travel from California to Minnesota, die, and then be too decomposed to see his tattoos.

[valsaid]

Yeah that's a good point. Does NamUs have a category for bi-racial people? I found this one:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cajski_mark.html

He is Chinese/Caucasian. He doesn't seem like a very good match either, but I'm curious for any other bi-racial cases that I might see that are close.

[DippyBlonder]

Originally Posted by valsaid

Yeah that's a good point. Does NamUs have a category for bi-racial people? I found this one:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cajski_mark.html

He is Chinese/Caucasian. He doesn't seem like a very good match either, but I'm curious for any other bi-racial cases that I might see that are close.

Welcome! I'm a newbie too.

I don't think there are easy to find categories in any of the 'missing' sites, but if you learn to use Google hacks this can really help you. For instance, if you were to type:

site:charleyproject.org asian male 1996

into google you would get this: https://www.google.com/search?q=site...w=1440&bih=735

It will only show you pages from charleyproject.org that contain the words asian, male and 1996.

You have to think outside the box a bit - try things like

site:charleyproject.org asian male
site:charleyproject.org filipino male 1996
site:charleyproject.org vietnamese male 1996
site:charleyproject.org pacific male 1996
etc

You can use the same google hack on any site:

site:nampn.org asian male 1996
site:findthemissing.org filipino male 1996
etc

The small problem is, google will only show you pages that are indexed - most pages are indexed but not all of them.

If you have a visual of the missing person (a morgue picture for instance) you can do the same google hack then click on images and you'll get this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=site...w=1440&bih=735

Here is a list of google hacks that may help you in the future - allinanchor:, allintext:, allintitle:, allinurl:, cache:, define:, filetype:, id:, inanchor:, info:, intext:, intitle:, inurl:, link:, related:, site: - though you will probably only really use the site: hack, knowing the others can be useful.

DP

[valsaid]

Thanks for the tip dippyblonder. That's really helpful! I've used that hack to check all the typical missing sites: Charley Project, Doe Network, NaMUs, Minnesota Missing Person's Clearinghouse, etc,. Are there any other websites any of you guys would recommend?

[webrocket]

Originally Posted by valsaid

Yeah that's a good point. Does NamUs have a category for bi-racial people? I found this one:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cajski_mark.html

He is Chinese/Caucasian. He doesn't seem like a very good match either, but I'm curious for any other bi-racial cases that I might see that are close.

I have never seen a category of bi-racial on Namus. there is "other" which could be anything but as a general rule I suspect that people are categorized (rightly or wrongly so) by the non-white racial part of any bi-racial combination.

our president is bi-racial yet he is generally referred to as African American.