MI MI - Detroit, UnkSex/Race Adult, UP11978, human foot under train from Elkhart, IN, Dec'73

Romulus · Feb 26, 2017

NamUs UP 11978

https://www.identifyus.org/en/cases/11978

Unidentified Body/Remains (Unknown Sex & Race)

Found December 12, 1992 in Wayne County, MI
Body Condition: Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only

Probable year of death: to

Vital Statistics
Estimated age: Unknown age
Approximate Height: cannot estimate
Approximate Weight: cannot estimate
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Scars and marks: nothing

Clothing & Accessories
Clothing: Foot was bare
Jewerly: nothing
Footwear:
Accessories: nothing

Identifiers
Fingerprints: Fingerprint information is not available
Dentals: Dental information / charting is not available
DNA: Sample is currently not available

Case History: A pipe fitter conducting routine maintenance check on the "Cotton Belt" locomotive #7605, which was standing at the above location (Pennsylvania Central RR tracks) discovered a human foot wedged in snow under the front plow well. Engine #7605 was the second of a two engine training containing more than 20 boxcars, that originated from Elkhart, Indiana.

Otterly · Feb 27, 2017

This case intrigues me as a sleuth and a train enthusiast. The only way I could see a foot getting wedged in the front plow well was if the train hit someone walking along the tracks and the foot became ripped off the victim and it flew all the way into the second engine of the train's plow. You'd think they would have known of any recent inicident involving the engine. Maybe it was late at night and it happened so quick the engineer didn't notice?

carbuff · Feb 27, 2017

Maybe there was a body hidden in the snow so they didn't see anything?

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

the_missing · Feb 27, 2017

>Found December 12, 1992 in Wayne County, MI

This should read "1973".

carbuff said:
Maybe there was a body hidden in the snow so they didn't see anything?

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

One imagines they would have found the rest of the body eventually - surely there has to be a footless body somewhere? If they bother running DNA for it, it might match up to body parts found elsewhere, who knows.

carbuff · Feb 27, 2017

the_missing said:
>Found December 12, 1992 in Wayne County, MI

This should read "1973".

One imagines they would have found the rest of the body eventually - surely there has to be a footless body somewhere? If they bother running DNA for it, it might match up to body parts found elsewhere, who knows.

Yeah, but the footless body could be from quite a distance away, and could also be somebody who was identified. I'm thinking if somebody died in a snowstorm and wasn't found for some time, so the body was incomplete.

Laughing · Feb 28, 2017

Someone who mis-timed crossing a trestle, and their (main) body landed in water?

carbuff · Nov 25, 2018

Updated Namus link: Unidentified Person Case

Somehow I doubt this foot will ever be identified.

carbuff · Mar 11, 2020

carbuff said:
Updated Namus link: Unidentified Person Case

Somehow I doubt this foot will ever be identified.

No exclusions listed.

victoriarobinson642 · Mar 29, 2021

Could this person still be alive? Maybe not 47 years later, but just as a hypothetical.

carbuff · Mar 29, 2021

victoriarobinson642 said:
Could this person still be alive? Maybe not 47 years later, but just as a hypothetical.

I would assume it might not have been fatal.

That's an option I hadn't thought of. Somebody might have been injured and taken to the hospital, while their foot remained, to be scooped up later by the plow. Yuck!

madamx · Mar 29, 2021

I just mapped out the route for Amtrak from Elkhart IN to Wayne County MI. I don’t know if this was the same route but I posted a picture of the map.

madamx · Mar 29, 2021

carbuff said:
Updated Namus link: Unidentified Person Case

Somehow I doubt this foot will ever be identified.

Yeah I am not so sure about that either. Iam just surprised they did not find anything once the snow left? Or a person that went to a hospital w a missing foot. This is just so weird.

carbuff · Mar 29, 2021

madamx said:
I just mapped out the route for Amtrak from Elkhart IN to Wayne County MI. I don’t know if this was the same route but I posted a picture of the map.

Thanks, that looks like it's probably close.

So quite a distance and entirely possible that someone who was injured in the early part of the route wouldn't be connected to the discovery later on.

madamx · Mar 29, 2021

Ok so I found this guy. He went missing from a mental institution is Ypsilanti in September. That is right next to Wayne County. So he could of been living in the train tracks .. what caught my eye with this guy is that he was missing 3 fingers already.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Missing Person / NamUs #MP21861

John Davis Harris, Male, Black / African American
Date of Last Contact September 12, 1973
Missing FromYpsilanti, Michigan

Demographics
Missing Age30 Years
Current Age78 Years
First NameJohn
Middle NameDavis
Last NameHarris
Nickname/Alias
Chester Russell, Jack Griffin

SexMale
Height6' 3" (75 Inches)
Weight184 lbs
Race / EthnicityBlack / African American

Circumstances
Date of Last ContactSeptember 12, 1973
NamUs Case CreatedSeptember 19, 2013
Last Known Location Map
LocationYpsilanti, Michigan
CountyWashtenaw County

Circumstances of Disappearance

John Davis Harris escaped from a mental health facility. He is considered dangerous.
Circumstance Notes
Brighton Post case now-Prior MSP Ypsilanti Case

Physical Description
Hair ColorBlack

Left Eye ColorBrown
Right Eye ColorBrown

Distinctive Physical Features
Item

Description
Amputation
Per CCH-Missing right fingers Fingerprint Classification shows three missing fingers (Thumb, index and middle)

carbuff · Mar 29, 2021

Hm. Interesting. Also strange...

madamx · Mar 29, 2021

carbuff said:
Hm. Interesting. Also strange...

Omg hahahaha... I know!!

I noticed also they don’t give a size of the foot either.

cvaldez1975 · Mar 30, 2021

it could have come from anywhere, remember this story. the man became decapitated while jumping trains and his head was found 100 miles away from his body.

Skull found in North Carolina is that of man killed by train

carbuff · Mar 30, 2021

cvaldez1975 said:
it could have come from anywhere, remember this story. the man became decapitated while jumping trains and his head was found 100 miles away from his body.

Skull found in North Carolina is that of man killed by train

Good example. Sometimes I think I should get a newspapers.com subscription and just read back issues looking for stories to connect things like that.

madamx · Mar 30, 2021

cvaldez1975 said:
it could have come from anywhere, remember this story. the man became decapitated while jumping trains and his head was found 100 miles away from his body.

Skull found in North Carolina is that of man killed by train

Omg!!! I never seen this story wow.

madamx · Mar 31, 2021

cvaldez1975 said:
it could have come from anywhere, remember this story. the man became decapitated while jumping trains and his head was found 100 miles away from his body.

Skull found in North Carolina is that of man killed by train

Omg!!! I never seen this story wow.

carbuff said:
Good example. Sometimes I think I should get a newspapers.com subscription and just read back issues looking for stories to connect things like that.

I thought about that too. Iam sure you could connect a lot!

MI MI - Detroit, UnkSex/Race Adult, UP11978, human foot under train from Elkhart, IN, Dec'73

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