Identified! AZ - Coconino Co., WhtMale UP10679, 18-30, Nov'73 - Name not found

Migmuu

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UP10679
Discovered on November 9, 1973

DEMOGRAPHICS
  • Caucasian male
  • Height: 5'11
  • Weight: Estimated at 180 lbs
  • Postmortem interval: 9 hours

CIRCUMSTANCES
  • Discovered by hitchhiker in embankment just one mile east of Highway 89A.
  • Coconino County, Arizona

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
  • Light brown hair and reddish moustache
  • Blue eyes
    No other distinctive features

CLOTHING
No clothing or accessories

There are no identifiers (DNA, dentals or fingerprints) available.
 
I think this could be Joseph Norman Spears, missing from Mississippi since July 30, 1973. He escaped a juvenile detention facility and was never seen again.

spears_joseph.jpg

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/spears_joseph.html

Joseph would have been 17 1/2 years old at the time the UID died, just 6 months off the 18 - 30 age range
Race (white) matches
The UID's weight (180 pounds) is within the 150 - 180 pound range given for Joseph
Hair color (light brown) is a match
Eye color (blue) is a match
Both men had a mustache
The timing lines up. The UID died only 3 months and 9 days after Joseph ran away
The distance isn't unreasonable considering he was a runaway and had about 3 months to get to Arizona. His family had moved to California and Joseph was planning on going to them once he left the facility he was in, so he could have been passing through Arizona when he died.

The only problem I see is height. Joseph was 5'7 - 5'8, and the UID was 5'11. But I don't think it's a big enough issue to rule him out.
 
Ok, I called it in.

For some reason, the lady I spoke to didn't want to give me her email so I could send her the information, a link to this thread, and a few more possible (albeit less likely) PMs. It's weird; I've never had anyone I contacted about a match turn down more info and a link to the WebSleuths thread.

Anyway, she said she needed to physically see the comparison, so ... I guess they have a morgue photo? I don't know. I'm kind of worried that they'll rule Joseph out based on the height discrepancy or something, especially since NamUs lists his height as 5'4 - 5'8 for whatever reason even though he's actually listed as 5'7 or 5'8 on every other site.
 
Ok, so I looked on NamUs to find the number for Coconino County's ME office so I could follow up, and apparently the contact number has been changed to Yavapai's ME Office. So I called the new number, and the man on the other line was totally confused. He told me they don't have any John Does in Yavapai and that he has no idea why his office is listed as the contact.

And I don't remember the name or phone number of the woman from Coconino who I spoke to 2 1/2 weeks ago.

I'm so confused. Why would the contact info be changed to Yavapai County when they're not the ones in charge of the case and don't even have a single John Doe?
 
I just got off the phone with Amy Kelly-McLaughlin, the woman in charge of the case.

She ruled out Joseph Spears based on the height. Some of the data in the original NamUs entry was incorrect; the UID was actually measured to be 6'1. That's a 5 - 6 inch difference.
It's possible the man is actually taller than 6'1. Amy was telling me that bodies will often shrink after death due to muscle contraction and dehydration. So the height discrepancy really could be larger than half a foot.

The reason the county was changed from Coconino to Yavapai is that the body was actually found in Yavapai, but the autopsy/examination was done by the ME in Coconino.

I asked about cause of death and she says our UID died from blunt force trauma that's consistent with being hit by a car. So this is likely a hit-and-run case.

Kinda disappointing that this wasn't a match, but I'm glad it led to her pulling up the file, noticing the errors and inputting the correct information
 
Dermot Faulkner Kelly

kelly_dermot.jpg


Missing Since: January 30, 1972 from Oglesby, Illinois
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: July 27, 1955
Age: 16 years old
Height and Weight: 6'0, 150 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Blond hair, blue eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A black and white striped jacket, a t-shirt, blue jeans, boots and an Accutron watch.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kelly_dermot.html



Richard Henry Lamson

lamson_richard.jpg


Missing Since: February 22, 1970 from San Mateo, California
Classification: Missing
Date Of Birth: January 14, 1952
Age: 18 years old
Height and Weight: 6'0, 185 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Lamson's nickname is Rick.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A coral-colored jacket, a gold-colored shirt, blue jeans and desert boots.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lamson_richard.html
 
NamUs redirects to a "Permission Error" page when you try to access this UID's profile. I guess he was identified then?
 

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