The Mendocino Sheriff's Office has released photographs of clothing, shoes, and other items found with the victim, in the hopes that someone might be able to identify the man.
”With this case, it's obvious with the condition of the grave and condition of the body it was a victim of a homicide,” Caudillo said. “And, the death was obviously suspicious. We're hoping the person has been reported missing ... so we can do proper notifications and proper comparisons.”
Once the Chico lab was able to determine that the remains were male, the sheriff's office started looking at the missing persons cases that have been reported, and sent DNA to the California Department of Justice DNA Crime Lab Facility.
Caudillo said that the sheriff's office doesn't believe the remains are that of Chris Giaque, a man who went missing in August 2003 and was last seen north of Laytonville, based on a conversation the office had with Giaque's father and how long the body has been in the grave.
After looking at the clothing, the sheriff's office believes the remains are that of someone who grew up in the “Pro-wing age.” Pro-wing is a brand of Payless Shoe Source shoes that thrived in the late 1980s to early 1990, Caudillo said. Giaque was 36 at the time.
The sheriff's office is still waiting to hear back from the DOJ crime lab and is working on identifying the remains found near Piercy.
