ID ID - Lewiston, WhtMale 1180UMID, 24-26, covert burial in cemetery, Sep'89

[carbuff]

It would seem from the lack of a mention anywhere, he was buried nude??

Nothing necessarily states that this was a murder (i.e. C-O-D). It could be that this was an overdose, car accident victim, etc where the witnesses "freaked" and tried to hide it.
It could have been a migrant worker (not sure about ID, but they're mainly farm workers in KY). They could perhaps be "built" from hard work. It would be hard to notice the disappearance of someone who moves around.

Yeah, you would think that there would be at least traces of clothing. And if he was buried nude that makes it significantly less likely that it was just a family who couldn't afford a funeral.

 

[bflocket]

If he were indeed nude, it would make the other things I said less likely as well...

Even if a friend OD'ed or it were an accident victim or something, I still don't see where the lack of clothing comes into play. Even it it was a shoddy burial, clothing should still be there as he wouldn't have been exposed to the elements (rain, heat, animals, etc).

He may not have even been nude. But even in the most simple entries (ie very little info known or handed over by authorities) on Doe/NamUs/etc have something about clothing or lack thereof. That there is no mention of clothing whatsoever is strange.

 

[Ambercat]

There is now a reconstruction of this person on his NamUs page --

https://identifyus.org/cases/10897

 

[Backwoods]

It's pretty weird either way. I don't know, IMO it would be rather creative for a murderer to bury a victim in an unmarked grave, in a graveyard. You'd think whoever buried this gentleman had to literally cover up the entire burial via grass/sod etc....it was in a plot that was suppose to be empty.

This makes me think of Mickey Shunick -- Brandon Lavergne buried her at a rural Louisiana cemetery -- kind of just outside the boundaries, I think, but still ...

 

[hayaletcatcher]

Am I correct in assuming that Steven Pearsall has been eliminated. He went missing 9/2/82 along with two women. This is the Lewiston Civic Theater mystery. He is probably the highest profile missing person in Nw Idaho.

Mr Pearsall is now the only rule out and DNA states-
Status: Complete - Insufficient DNA for profiling
https://identifyus.org/cases/10897

 

[webrocket]

Oh well, they waited 23 yrs before taking a DNA sample before cremated him. they must not have considered that they couldn't get enough DNA from their sample. too bad they didn't wait for the test results before sending the remains to the crematorium as there are no more samples .

Mr Pearsall is now the only rule out and DNA states-
Status: Complete - Insufficient DNA for profiling
https://identifyus.org/cases/10897

 

[tifflee]

Randall Dean Leach was only 20 when he was last seen in November 1980 so he's young compared to the UID's age estimate. Randall's LKA date is within the 10 year estimated date of death, though. He was hitchhiking his way from Sheboygan, Wisconsin to Bend, Oregon and was last seen in Idaho Falls, Idaho where he worked on an LDS family's dairy farm. Perhaps that indicates he was used to manual labor or heavy lifting? He was 5'8" or 5'9". Lewiston is northwest of Idaho Falls and it looks like a longer route to Bend, but perhaps he was fine with a circuitous route since he was hitchhiking?

That said, dentals are available and entered for both the UID and Randall so I am guessing a comparison would have already been done in NamUs, or can be done easily.

http://eastidahocoldcasesinc.com/ea...leach-randall-d-idaho-falls-idahooregon-1980/
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/leach_randall.html
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/7429/278
[url]http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?33670-ID-Randall-Dean-Leach-20-Idaho-Falls-6-November-1980
[/URL]

 

[carbuff]

Randall Leach is now on the ruleouts

https://identifyus.org/cases/10897

 

[almagata]

I submitted James Francis Schroeder to the Doe Network & Namus as a possible match to the unidentified cemetery body. I don't know if anyone ever saw the story that the two friends of James Schroeder gave but it seemed odd to me. They said James took off without any gear (hat, coat, compass, map) to go hunting alone in wilderness that he was unfamiliar with. They warned him that was a bad idea. The trio of friends were all from Wisconsin so they were well aware of weather and wilderness dangers. They also had at least one pack animal with them, a burro, that was left at the camp site when the two friends went to find help on the third day of James being missing. The second day, the story goes, that neither of the two friends left the tent because it rained all day long. The one picture that has been published of James shows him sitting on a tractor so it possible he grew up on a farm. When search and rescue returned to the camp site, they found the burro gone and the camp in disarray. A foot of snow had fallen by the time the searchers made their way back to the camp. It seems somewhat sensible that if James had been hurt by his friends accidentally, they might have felt that he should be buried in a cemetery rather than just left out in the open. This is my conjecture of course.

 

[carbuff]

Updated link: Unidentified Person Case

Still only Steven Pearsall and Randall Leach on the ruleouts.

 

[shellykb]

I submitted James Francis Schroeder to the Doe Network & Namus as a possible match to the unidentified cemetery body. I don't know if anyone ever saw the story that the two friends of James Schroeder gave but it seemed odd to me. They said James took off without any gear (hat, coat, compass, map) to go hunting alone in wilderness that he was unfamiliar with. They warned him that was a bad idea. The trio of friends were all from Wisconsin so they were well aware of weather and wilderness dangers. They also had at least one pack animal with them, a burro, that was left at the camp site when the two friends went to find help on the third day of James being missing. The second day, the story goes, that neither of the two friends left the tent because it rained all day long. The one picture that has been published of James shows him sitting on a tractor so it possible he grew up on a farm. When search and rescue returned to the camp site, they found the burro gone and the camp in disarray. A foot of snow had fallen by the time the searchers made their way back to the camp. It seems somewhat sensible that if James had been hurt by his friends accidentally, they might have felt that he should be buried in a cemetery rather than just left out in the open. This is my conjecture of course.

Hello. Do we know if any dental records or other DNA have ruled out James Schroeder?

 

[shellykb]

Does anyone know if James Schroeder was ruled out from the DNA testing on the
Person found in the cemetery in Idaho?

 

[almagata]

Does anyone know if James Schroeder was ruled out from the DNA testing on the
Person found in the cemetery in Idaho?

After logging into Namus, Namus has a tab where they list the people that have been compared to the unidentified and missing persons once they have been ruled out. It is a tab that you can see only after logging in for some reason.

Namus has some great search features that allow you to filter cases that could be a possible match by location and various demographic characteristics.

Law enforcement is getting much better and faster about entering missing and unidentified people into the Namus database.

 

[almagata]

I just checked Namus and there are not comparisons for cases in Idaho.

 

[shellykb]

Almagata- Thank you very much for the information . I am new to this site . James is my Uncle . Just trying to figure out if there was ever any testing done on the Un identified man found in an Idaho cemetery, to that of Janes Schroeder.

 

[carbuff]

Updated link: Unidentified Person Case

Still only Steven Pearsall and Randall Leach on the ruleouts.

This is odd. The comparisons tab for this John Doe is not showing any names at all, not even the ones that were there before.

I guess they probably just set the page to LE-only, but it's still odd.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Refreshing case.

 

[Goecke]

That age range seems oddly specific for partial skeletal remains.