Identified! TX - Fort Worth, WhtMale, 57-70, UP93072, Skeletal remains found in master closet of residence, Aug 21 - Gordon Randall Johns

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phantomstrider

phantomstrider

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The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)​

Date Body Found August 29,2021​

Location Found Forth Worth, Texas​

Estimated Age Range 57-70 years​

Sex Female​

Race/Ethnicity White/Caucasian​

Possible First Name Gordon​

Possible Middle Name Randall​

Possible Last Name Johns​

Estimated Age Group Adult- Pre 70​

Height 5"5"-5"11" (65-71 inches), Estimated​

Weight Cannot Estimate​

Location Fort Worth, Texas 76244​

County Tarrant County​

Found On Tribal Land No​

Circumstances of Recovery Skeletal remains were found in the master closet of the residence​

Inventory of Remains All parts recovered​

Condition of Remains Not recognizable- Near complete or complete skeleton​

Hair Color Unknown​

Eye Color Unknown​

 
phantomstrider said:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)​

Date Body Found August 29,2021​

Location Found Forth Worth, Texas​

Estimated Age Range 57-70 years​

Sex Female​

Race/Ethnicity White/Caucasian​

Possible First Name Gordon​

Possible Middle Name Randall​

Possible Last Name Johns​

Estimated Age Group Adult- Pre 70​

Height 5"5"-5"11" (65-71 inches), Estimated​

Weight Cannot Estimate​

Location Fort Worth, Texas 76244​

County Tarrant County​

Found On Tribal Land No​

Circumstances of Recovery Skeletal remains were found in the master closet of the residence​

Inventory of Remains All parts recovered​

Condition of Remains Not recognizable- Near complete or complete skeleton​

Hair Color Unknown​

Eye Color Unknown​

Click to expand...
Was there a new homeowner or something? Wow!!
 
I wonder where his
potential name comes from. Do they think it's his "real" name or an alias?

What do the homeowners say about this?
I imagine this case will eventually be solved...
 
If that is the correct Gordon R. Johns (in North Fort Worth), he purchased the house in 2007 and a couple bought the house in May of 2022. The grantor in the May 2022 transaction is a corporation (*not* Mr. Johns). I am wondering if either there was a search of the house because taxes or mortgage had not been paid? Or a general welfare check? And the property then passed to the county in lieu of heirs. If there were no heirs, that would explain the failure to do a DNA test to verify his identity. Dang. This is really sad.
 
WendyTX said:
If that is the correct Gordon R. Johns (in North Fort Worth), he purchased the house in 2007 and a couple bought the house in May of 2022. The grantor in the May 2022 transaction is a corporation (*not* Mr. Johns). I am wondering if either there was a search of the house because taxes or mortgage had not been paid? Or a general welfare check? And the property then passed to the county in lieu of heirs. If there were no heirs, that would explain the failure to do a DNA test to verify his identity. Dang. This is really sad.
Click to expand...

Aaahhh, looks like Mr. Johns owned the house, but stopped paying taxes &/or mortgage.

Wonder if we'll ever know the date of the last mortgage payment?

In the closet? Wonder if this was a hoarding situation, the deceased was trapped by falling items, or even crushed?

We have a thread about a similar situation:

Anyone local to find out more? Calling Texans:

@TexasAngel , @TexasBobcat . @texasdawg @TexasEx , @TexasJeepGurl , @TexasGiGi

Please call other Texans! @LoneStar70

jmho ymmv lrr
 
I would like to preface my post by saying this is all amateur speculation and research and MOO.

A search of Gordon Randall Johns returns nothing, but Randall G. Johns does reveal a person that based on my research I have high confidence may be the identity of the individual. Timeline below:

The property was deeded to Mr. Johns (records note he was an unmarried male) in 2007. I will not share the address to preserve the privacy of the current owners. A google street view of this property shows that in 2018 the lawn was well kept and a car was parked in the driveway.

Mr. Johns owned another property in a neighboring county as well. Records show he was sued by an individual regarding that property. On February 1st, 2018, the judge ruled in the plaintiff's favor. The plaintiff was awarded the ownership of the house the judge ordered Mr. Johns to pay $62,300 in legal fees for the plaintiff. There was no set due date for the fees to be paid, but there was a yearly interest rate of the payment was 5% until Mr. Johns paid it off.

Fast forward to 2021.

The City of Fort Worth mailed Mr. Johns a code compliance warning regarding his overgrown lawn on January 11th, 2021. The city did not receive a response and subsequently mowed the lawn and mailed Mr. Johns a bill on February 5th, 2021. They sent another code compliance warning on March 31st, 2021 without a response in which they again mowed the lawn on April 30th, 2021.

The house was sold at a foreclosure sale on October 5th, 2021 due to non-payment on the mortgage loan. They gave a redemption period lasting until April 10th, 2022. There was no response from Mr. Johns so the bank was awarded the outstanding loan balance of $115,200, therefore officially turning the property back over to the bank. The house was deeded to new owners on May 31st, 2022.

Again, MOO but I have a strong suspicion this may be the individual. I don't know if he was accounted for between 2018 - 2020 but it does appear his lawn care and mortgage payments stopped in December 2020/January 2021. I will continue to research.
 
If they know who he is, wonder why he is on Namus as a UID instead of Claimus?

I wonder if there are questions about his identity - maybe it was a stolen or faked identity?
 
Great big thanks, @ralyla for filling in those gaps so well, and @StarrChance , too.

I expect that LE wants to confirm the identity of those remains. Likely we've figured it out, but LE can't connect dots & run with it.

If there is a sister, there will likely be a DNA comparison, or perhaps dental records will be located.

jmho ymmv lrr
 
Pseudonymph said:
Unless the closet is a walk-in, it’s either murder or suicide. Nobody just climbs into a bedroom closet to die accidentally.
Click to expand...
unfortunately, my mind went to suicide immediately. if he was in a lot of debt, single, and it's hard to find any relatives easily I could see that being the scenario. MOO.

My only doubt is that he's on the unidentified instead of unclaimed. You would think with all the evidence that something happened in January 2021 they would be able to link it and make an ID. That alone makes me wonder if something nefarious was going on.

What do y'all think about me submitting a tip to our local newspaper? This happened last year but NamUs just posted on July 5th. I can't find any news articles regarding a body found in a house. I can't help but wonder if a news article could boost the story and help them find his family and identity.
 
ralyla said:
unfortunately, my mind went to suicide immediately. if he was in a lot of debt, single, and it's hard to find any relatives easily I could see that being the scenario. MOO.

My only doubt is that he's on the unidentified instead of unclaimed. You would think with all the evidence that something happened in January 2021 they would be able to link it and make an ID. That alone makes me wonder if something nefarious was going on.

What do y'all think about me submitting a tip to our local newspaper? This happened last year but NamUs just posted on July 5th. I can't find any news articles regarding a body found in a house. I can't help but wonder if a news article could boost the story and help them find his family and identity.
Click to expand...
I can't see why not? You've done a great job researching this. Sad story, and I'd guess it was a suicide.
 
ralyla said:
unfortunately, my mind went to suicide immediately. if he was in a lot of debt, single, and it's hard to find any relatives easily I could see that being the scenario. MOO.

My only doubt is that he's on the unidentified instead of unclaimed. You would think with all the evidence that something happened in January 2021 they would be able to link it and make an ID. That alone makes me wonder if something nefarious was going on.

What do y'all think about me submitting a tip to our local newspaper? This happened last year but NamUs just posted on July 5th. I can't find any news articles regarding a body found in a house. I can't help but wonder if a news article could boost the story and help them find his family and identity.
Click to expand...

Oh absolutely! The rent/mortgage support programs during the pandemic might be used as an angle for a story?

Does anything about code enforcement trigger a welfare check?

jmho ymmv lrr
 
Code enforcement would not have triggered a welfare check, but it sounds like the bank foreclosed on the property. That would explain the dates (body found a little over a month before house was sold in a foreclosure sale). Should probably notify LE about sister. They may know she exists, but they may not. Families become estranged. So sad.
 
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