KY KY - Williamstown, Grant Co, off KY 22 W of Dry Ridge, WhtMale 25-39, UP86, GSW, Hands Cut Off, In Tobacco Barn, Ext Dental Wk "Perfect Smile", Apr'89

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He is going to be exhumed to obtain a DNA sample.
 
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Is Stephen Hafer a good potential match?
"Steven Hafer was last seen in late March 1989"
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1831dmky.html

The police seemed to think he was buried near a river but never found a grave. The heights are off but I think the faces have some resemblance. Color of hair and eyes match. Victim had been dead around a week, closely matching the time of disappearance of Hafer.

Hafer info:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?296815-HAFER-Steven-Namus-7016
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/7016/389
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1831dmky.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hafer_steven.html

The area where he was found isn't near the Licking River. There's not really an river of any where near where the barn should be, unless you'd cound Eagle Creek. But it sounds like Hafer was definitely buried near the Licking River because that would be closer and it was mentioned in his profile.
 
I am so glad they're exhuming him!!! Hoping that more authorities will make that choice soon.
 
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/unidentified-persons/john-doe---grant-county-kentucky
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I was curious about the flat head syndrome - here's some info so you don't have to look it up. I wonder if he was in an institutional setting as a baby? Or neglected?

Signs of positional plagiocephaly

Many vaginally delivered babies are born with an oddly shaped head caused by the pressure of passing through the birth canal. This usually corrects itself within about six weeks. But if your baby's head hasn't rounded out by age 6 weeks – or if you first notice that your baby has a flat spot on her skull after 6 weeks of age – it's probably a case of positional plagiocephaly.

Plagiocephaly shows up most often in babies who are reported to be "good sleepers," babies with unusually large heads, and babies who are born prematurely and have weak muscle tone.

Babies with torticollis can also develop a flat spot on their skull because they often sleep with their head turned to one side. Torticollis occurs when a tight or shortened muscle on one side of the neck causes the chin to tilt to the other side. Premature babies are especially prone to torticollis.

From: https://www.babycenter.com/0_plagiocephaly-flat-head-syndrome_1187981.bc
 
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He is going to be exhumed to obtain a DNA sample.

While they have the body they really should take a tooth and, if possible, hair samples at the same time for isotope analysis. I guess isotopes are at the stage DNA testing was 10 or 15 years ago - not routine, which means that opportunities were and are being not exactly wasted but certainly not made the best of.
 
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Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP86
Male, White / Caucasian

up861.jpg up861.jpg up863.jpg
Date Body Found: April 9, 1989
Location Found:
Williamstown, Grant County, Kentucky
Inventory of Remains:
One or both hands not recovered
Estimated Age: Adult - Pre 40; 25-35 Years
Estimated PMI:
Days

Measured Height: 6' 5"
Estimated Weight: 220 lbs
Hair Color: Brown; short

Clothing and Accessories: None
Circumstances of Recovery: Found in tobacco barn off KY 22, about 7.5 miles west of Dry Ridge.

"3 Missing Person Exclusions"
MP20595 Christopher Winkler 02/16/1987 Racine WI
MP9041 Jerry Plaster 04/16/1988 Manassas VA
MP9561 Harvey Kays 12/12/1988 Anderson KY
 
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I sent in information on this UID (I’ve named him John W. Coolaid - “W” for the County he was found and Coolaid for his handsome ‘Kool-Aid’ smile) and Steven Allen Hafer. I spent awhile researching them both and thought it was a pretty good match. Very tragic case though even if they’re not.
 
I suppose the mob specifically was gone by the time this man lost his life, but there are always going to be 'toughs' around.

He could have been in a car crash instead, of course, or played hockey or some other sport.
 
One too many, right? Initially I thought they could be connected, but after reading some more, I realized that UID’s hands were removed by law enforcement (something to do with getting prints). Mr. Coolaid’s were definitely not removed for identification purposes...quite the opposite. Both guys suffered a tremendous amount of pain, I’m sure. It’s disturbing!
 
One too many, right? Initially I thought they could be connected, but after reading some more, I realized that UID’s hands were removed by law enforcement (something to do with getting prints). Mr. Coolaid’s were definitely not removed for identification purposes...quite the opposite. Both guys suffered a tremendous amount of pain, I’m sure. It’s disturbing!

If you're referring to the 1990 Owensboro/Daviess County John Doe, his hands were not removed by law enforcement, if I recall correctly. His hands and feet were severed by his killer. Before I started looking into these Kentucky cases seriously, the cases of Daviess County John Doe and "Mr. Coolaid" (interesting name) were so similar to me that I actually thought that they were the same person.

There was another man found raped and murdered in Shepherdsville in 1976. That man's hands did end up being removed professionally by law enforcement for analysis. Are you thinking of that one?

EDIT: Sorry, MadMcGoo, I was confused; I didn't see the rest of your exchange with carbuff. Yeah, I see now that you were talking about the 1976 victim.

I think that there's a nonzero chance that at least two of the three aforementioned cases are connected, and I have thought so since about last year when I learned of them. There are a lot of somewhat uncommon similar characteristics between the three cases -- two were dismembered in some way, two were raped or otherwise sexually abused (the third, "Mr. Coolaid", was found badly decomposed, so I'm not sure if they were able to even determine sexual assault), two were found completely unclothed, and all three had been mutilated in some way after death, possibly as a way of preventing identification. For what it's worth, I think that the little evidence we have creates a more convincing link between Mr. Coolaid and Owensboro John Doe than it does with either of the two and the Shepherdsville John Doe, although the odds that any of them connected aren't necessarily very high.
 
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@Fuuro Yes! You’re right! I was confusing the 76 with 90! I think... :confused: That’s why I have to give them names, these are by far the most confusing cases I’ve looked into. I agree with you, I don’t think they’re related even though they appear to have some similarities. I also thought a couple of UID threads here had been duplicated they were so similar.

Thank you for pointing all that out! I had forgotten about ‘90. I also didn’t realize there were two that had a sexual element to the crime. I think some of these threads (like these for instance) are confusing because all the links are posted to several threads. I’m guilty of doing that myself, but it does convolute things a bit. IMO

EDIT: Not links, but an entire missing/unidentified person report posted to someone else’s thread.
 
@Fuuro Yes! You’re right! I was confusing the 76 with 90! I think... :confused: That’s why I have to give them names, these are by far the most confusing cases I’ve looked into. I agree with you, I don’t think they’re related even though they appear to have some similarities. I also thought a couple of UID threads here had been duplicated they were so similar.

Thank you for pointing all that out! I had forgotten about ‘90. I also didn’t realize there were two that had a sexual element to the crime. I think some of these threads (like these for instance) are confusing because all the links are posted to several threads. I’m guilty of doing that myself, but it does convolute things a bit. IMO

EDIT: Not links, but an entire missing/unidentified person report posted to someone else’s thread.

I can definitely see why someone would get these cases confused, as there are some pretty interesting similarities (like I said before) even if the cases are probably unrelated.

About the sexual aspect of these crimes - like I previously mentioned, the 1976 Shepherdsville John Doe and the 1990 Owensboro/Daviess County John Doe had both been sexually assaulted. I don't know (to be completely honest, I don't necessarily even want to know) the exact nature of what they endured, but semen was apparently found on or in the 1990 Owensboro victim. LE apparently had plans to test the DNA against a known serial killer (James Cable), but this was fifteen years ago, and I don't even know if those plans ever materialized. Not much is known about the Shepherdsville victim, unfortunately.

Those two cases are odd enough on their own, but I think the killers in these cases are different people and that they had their own MOs, given that the most compelling similarity between the two is that some sort of sex crime was committed alongside each murder. Rape is something that (unfortunately) happens everywhere, but rural Kentucky seems like a particularly strange place for multiple sexually-motivated murders of young-to-middle-age men to take place.
 
@Fuuro you know, you’re absolutely right! (IMO) I also think there are several other pairs/sets of cases in Kentucky that have odd similarities but are probably unrelated. I’ve gone through and compiled a list of all UID in KY, some of which don’t have threads here (yet), but I have to read over some a few times to make sure I’m not looking at the same case.

There are a couple of people who have been found in a river/lake, weighted down and either tied up or mouth taped. A couple of Hispanic men who were found hanged and in possession of some type of religious medallion or piece of jewelry. At least 3 newborns/infants found in the garbage (alive when they were disposed of). Not all uncommon scenarios, like you said just seem a bit out of place somehow..

eta: I forgot one that could actually be related, I haven’t done much reading on them yet but they caught my eye...Both 2016, one in May the other in June, white males...one was found with 2 dimes in his back pocket and the other was found with a dime in his hand o_O
 

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