NV NV - Reno, BlkMale 25-35, UP2105, MVA, bank robbery suspect, abdominal surgical scar, Jul'80

[outofthedark]

The Doe Network:
Hot Case 571


Unidentified Black Male

• The victim was discovered on July 16, 1980 in Washoe County, Nevada
• Estimated Date of Death: July 16, 1980
• Cause of Death: Craniocerebral injuries due to auto accident

Vital Statistics

• Estimated age: 25-30 years old
• Approximate Height and Weight: 5'4"; 135 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Black hair.

Case History
The victim was a suspect in a robbery of Nevada Savings and Loan in Washoe County, Nevada on July 16, 1980. He fled the scene in an automobile pursued by Sparks Police on Interstate 80 eastbound, when he lost control of the car and struck a fixed object.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
Washoe County Coroner's Office
775-785-6114
Email
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.
Agency Case Number:
Coroner # 0514-80
NCIC Number:

Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information:
**Warning! Post-mortem photos my be contained in link below!
Washoe County Coroner

http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase571.html

 

[Donjeta]

The link's changed, he's no longer hot case:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1417umnv.html

Namus link has a MORGUE PHOTO in it:
https://identifyus.org/cases/2105

He is not:
John Ashley, Jr. 1953 Delaware
David Williams 1962 New Jersey

 

[Charlie99909]

Alright, my old manager knew this case really well because he was a sheriff and told me all about this case. It's really an interesting case. He wrecked his car and was found 60-70 yards away from the car like he tried to hijack another car and was dragged. He died from the trauma he received from his first wreck. How crazy a story to lead up to being a UID? First you rob a bank and then you die from auto related injuries while escaping?

 

[webrocket]

the first thing that went through my mind was his fingerprints. I assumed he must not have been arrested before otherwise they'd have a match. then I see this under his fingerprint info on his Namus profile:

Finger prints on file with Sparks police department


Does that mean they have not been entered into any national databases? I'm not sure how that works but if they are sitting on cards in a file in Sparks, NV, how are they supposed to find a match with other LE agencies across the country?

 

[Charlie99909]

I'm sure he has been entered into a national database. But who knows if he had been arrested beforehand I they put his fingerprints onto a database. Do possible records of his arrests still exist? Who knows.

 

[webrocket]

I would think prints are kept on file for a long time, but how long I have no idea. it is possible he was never arrested before but bank robbery is a bit extreme for a pure novice.

 

[webrocket]

actually, I posed this rhetorical question on another thread some months ago. if the missing person were a fugitive, I am not sure that they are in the same missing persons databases as ordinary civilians. I did a fairly broad search of missing persons at Namus and there were no black men missing that met my criteria.

this guy's lack of identification and extreme attempts to avoid apprehension would be consistent with someone who does not want to go back to prison. still if he had a record, you would think the fingerprints would have matched, but I have no clue what the technology was back in 1980 and what sort of searches they could have run back then.

 

[Ambercat]

Two more people have been added to the rule-outs on NamUs -- Jerry Armstrong and Oscar Nedd.

I wonder if at the time LE asked about black males who are shorter who were recently released/paroled from prison? IMO, it sounded like he may have been incarcerated (possibly even for bank robbery or armed robbery) and didn't want to return to prison.

 

[Ambercat]

I know that it is a long shot, but I looked through the Interpol listings for both wanted persons and missing persons http://www.interpol.int/Wanted-Persons thinking that he could have been wanted for something (hence why he was running from the police) but I don't think it goes back far enough. I know that his fingerprints were taken, but I am not sure if they were ever checked against any databases? I don't think this came about (the databases) until the mid-1980 when LE used it to identify Richard Ramirez's fingerprints in Los Angeles.

 

[Ambercat]

There was an update on NamUs to his file about his prints --

Fingerprints initially on file with Sparks Police. The original print cards were sent to the FBI, however they are discarded after 7 years. There are no prints on file per SPD and FBI." to "Fingerprints initially on file with Sparks Police. The original print cards were sent to the FBI, however they are discarded after 7 years. There are no prints on file at SPD or FBI

This is disheartening because I thought that he probably had a criminal record (thus his prints were on file somewhere) and he didn't want to go back to jail and this is the main reason why he ran (IMO).

 

[webrocket]

brilliant move FBI, and that's the cream of the crop.

 

[Charlie99909]

brilliant move FBI, and that's the cream of the crop.

Unfortunately it's all too common. Look at the East Area Rapist here in Sacramento. LE threw away all the evidence 15 years after the first attacks. It took one detective to pull everything out and salvage it, only for LE to demand he throw it away because it is city property. Because of that evidence he saved, the rapist was linked through DNA to more attacks as far south as LA.

 

[Ambercat]

Lawrence Edward Verdell, a 20 year old Black male who went missing from Camden, NJ on March 3, 1979 was recently added to NamUs. Unfortunately, there isn't a photo of Mr. Verdell but his height is listed as 65 inches and weight as 140-145 lbs, which all those factors together made me think of the unidentified bank robber from Sparks, NV (I guess the distance and nothing in Lawrence Verdell's profile on NamUs suggests that he was involved anything like bank robbery might be two very big problems).

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/23673/29

 

[Ambercat]

In an attempt to find a photo of Lawrence Verdell, I looked through the yearbooks from Camden, NJ on Classmates. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a photo of him and it seems that the yearbooks available from Camden the 1970s do not have very many photos of the underclassmen (only seniors). I don't know if Verdell is a very common surname, yet if it isn't, I think Lawrence may have a sister (or female relative) who attended Camden High School in the mid-1970s (she has married and has a different surname). If only NamUs included photos on all their missing person profiles...

 

[Ambercat]

I was looking at the Virginia Department of Corrections web page of Wanted Escapees at http://vadoc.virginia.gov/offenders/wanted/escapees.shtm and noticed Thomas Brooks, whose vital statistics are very close to the unidentified bank robber. Prior to looking at both men at the same time, I thought that Thomas Brooks could be a possible match (taking into consideration that the unidentified man face was swollen/distorted from the accident that killed him. Maybe I am just tired.

http://vadoc.virginia.gov/offenders/wanted/escapees.shtm

 

[killarney rose]

I like him just looking at the picture. Especially the eyebrows.

 

[im1096]

" 17cm healed surgical scar located on upper midline abdomen."

That's a pretty long surgical scar. It should be a helpful identifier.

 

[micheleonelonly]

I was looking at the Virginia Department of Corrections web page of Wanted Escapees at http://vadoc.virginia.gov/offenders/wanted/escapees.shtm and noticed Thomas Brooks, whose vital statistics are very close to the unidentified bank robber. Prior to looking at both men at the same time, I thought that Thomas Brooks could be a possible match (taking into consideration that the unidentified man face was swollen/distorted from the accident that killed him. Maybe I am just tired.

I can see what you like about this match, especially in comparing the postmortem photo with TB's mugshot. It's too bad we can't see the UID's ears very well, since TB's ears have a distinctive look to them. John Doe's nose also appears more upturned, but, like you said, he could have sustained injuries that damaged his nose in the car accident. It's too bad that John Doe's fingerprints were lost... :facepalm:

I wonder which hospital they took John Doe to. Namus says he was taken by ambulance to "the local hospital." The accident occurred outside of Reno/Sparks near Patrick, which would make the closest current hospital Northern Nevada Medical Center, but I can't seem to find the date NNMC was opened. The 2 public hospitals in Reno, Renown (which was called Washoe Medical Ctr at the time) and Saint Mary's were both in operation in 1980. Washoe Med is about a mile closer than St Mary's, but St. Mary's is more conveniently located right off of the freeway.

I also just noticed for the first time, that this man happened to pass away on my dad's 18th birthday. It's always a little eerie when a case date coincides with some real-life event...

 

[Ambercat]

I can see what you like about this match, especially in comparing the postmortem photo with TB's mugshot. It's too bad we can't see the UID's ears very well, since TB's ears have a distinctive look to them. John Doe's nose also appears more upturned, but, like you said, he could have sustained injuries that damaged his nose in the car accident. It's too bad that John Doe's fingerprints were lost... :facepalm:

I wonder which hospital they took John Doe to. Namus says he was taken by ambulance to "the local hospital." The accident occurred outside of Reno/Sparks near Patrick, which would make the closest current hospital Northern Nevada Medical Center, but I can't seem to find the date NNMC was opened. The 2 public hospitals in Reno, Renown (which was called Washoe Medical Ctr at the time) and Saint Mary's were both in operation in 1980. Washoe Med is about a mile closer than St Mary's, but St. Mary's is more conveniently located right off of the freeway.

I also just noticed for the first time, that this man happened to pass away on my dad's 18th birthday. It's always a little eerie when a case date coincides with some real-life event...

It looks like Mr. Brooks' ears might not be symmetric from his Virginia photo (?). I can see that the UID's forehead looks swollen from the car accident (I am not sure if they brushed anything in the photo -- that would probably be good to know) and I would guess that if they got rid of the fingerprints, they probably wouldn't have kept security camera footage from the bank. :facepalm:

Are both of the hospitals trauma centers?

I know what you mean about when dates coincide; http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82684 was found on my mom's birthday and I can't help that it makes me want to find out who is a little more than other UIDs.

 

[micheleonelonly]

Are both of the hospitals trauma centers?

Yes, they both have emergency rooms. I'm inclined to think John Doe was likelier taken to Washoe Med/Renown, which is a secular place, rather than St Mary's, a religious hospital. St. Mary's is currently part of a private, for-profit network, although it was a non-profit Catholic hospital.
I know that, for example, the victims of the 1985 airplane crash were all taken to Washoe.
Washoe has had Careflight helicopters as long as I can remember, but I'm not sure if St. Mary's does/did.