FL FL - Jacksonville, WhtMale 1040UMFL, 40-55, Hit by Tractor Trailer on I-10, Apr'83

I came accross this site while looking for my Father Richard Lloyd Barnett, I want to thank everyone who has helped try to solve this.
I would like to give you all some more information on what we know or have been told.
We were told by our Father Richards mother right before she died that he died in a car accident drinking and driving and no one else was killed, she also said that she thought it was in New Mexico along I-40. Well we have found out by much research he did not die in New Mexico and she did not find this out by a death certificate we believe it was a police report, but do not know for sure, she would not say much.
What is really strange is he did not have a drivers liscense, but then again maybe he hitch hiked.
Also someone else in our Fathers family told us that they heard the same thing. There has been no activity on his Social Security since 1979, but his death was never reported to Social Security.
I was thinking that if their was a car accident their is paperwork somewhere that will prove it.
We have been searching for what happened to him for so long. I have had a death certificate search done in New mexico, California, Texas, and Oklahoma. I wish that their was a centralized Nation Wide Vital Records office so we wouldn't have to go state by state especially if it wasn't reported to Social Security.
Sometimes we think the story that we were told may not be true either, our Father was estranged from all his family.
I would love for everyone to continue to help us with our case,or have any suggestions. I feel very blessed to have found this site. If you have any more questions please let me know. I am not the best at explaining things, but will do my best.
We are waiting on results of the UID that you all have found to be a resemblance, it all sounds close except that our Father had different tattoos, but you never know, he could have gotten more.

syocum said:

We are waiting on results of the UID that you all have found to be a resemblance, it all sounds close except that our Father had different tattoos, but you never know, he could have gotten more.

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hi syocum, and welcome to WS. hopefully we can be of some assistance.

are any of the tattoos alike? I mean by way of example, if your father had one tattoo of a heart of his left arm and no others, the existence of other tattoos on the UID would not exclude him, unless of course there was no tattoo of a heart on the UID's left arm.

From what I know of the tattoos he has one of Mickey Mouse and a womans name, but I will have to get with my brother to make sure of where they are at.

Hi syocum and welcome to Websleuths!

I have two questions on the online description listed of your father's last known whereabouts. They say your father was arrested in Galveston County, released, made one phone call, but did not leave a message. Is this information your family provided law enforcement or where do these details come from?

I ask because:

1. I want to make sure the date on this last sighting is certain since there is apparently an online posting (possibly from your sister?) that says Richard has been missing since 1983, not 1982, but that might have been a typo?
2. I have wondered who he called and how they knew he called if he did not leave a message? I was thinking that if he is the Jacksonville UID, then perhaps this last phone call is related to where he was trying to head to.

Also, one more update for this thread: This past week, I heard from the Jacksonville Medical Examiner staff member who is also listed as the NamUs case manager contact for the UID. She told me that fingerprints have been sent for comparison to the Galveston County Sheriff's Department LE contact for Richard. Progress!

it appears the tattoos do not match. if Richard had a Mickey Mouse tatt when he was alive, there is no Mickey Mouse tatt listed for the UID so if that info is accurate, then it cannot be a match.

TIFFLEE,
That is a typo on my sisters part. We just recently last December found out we had a brother. Our brothers mom is who our Father had tryed to call that day, she received a message from someone telling her he had called, but he never called back and was never seen again. No one knows if he called before or after he got out of jail. It is a mystery to us what happened to him after getting out of jail. Yes, the Galveston Sherriffs is in the process of having the fingerprints compared.
We had heard he was in a car accident somewhere drinking and driving and was the only one killed, but have had no luck proving this. And he did not own a car or Drivers Liscense so that is all a mystery also...

syocum: Thanks for the clarification! It seems like with either scenario (Richard in New Mexico in a car accident or as the UID in Jacksonville, FL), family members seem to think he did not head home after being released from jail. Did he often leave for extended periods of time?

I started this thread on your father's case under the Missing Persons section of this website so that any discussion directly related to Richard, but not directly related to this UID can keep going on there: TX TX - Richard Lloyd Barnett, 42, Galveston County, 3 April 1982 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community. I copied over some of the discussion here to get things started.

webrocket: I agree the chances are slimmer, although one pesky word in the UID's description makes me curious to see the results of the fingerprint comparison.

Several jailhouse-type tattoos, including...

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I don't know if the person who entered the information was summarizing all the tattoos and used the word "including" in the wrong sense (leaving room open for there to be more), or if there were so many, they simply just put down the ones easiest to describe - although it seems that a Mickey Mouse tattoo should be easy enough to describe?

I finally found a news article mentioning this UID written from earlier this year. "Billy Richards" seems to be another possible clue (or red herring) to pursue.

http://m.jacksonville.com/news/metr...eath-investigators-hope-tattoos-carry-clues-0

Billy on his boots

It was just after 2 a.m. on a Friday in April 1983.

A tractor-trailer driver from North Carolina was passing another vehicle on Interstate 10 near Deep Creek Bridge in Jacksonville. He didn't see the man walking in the road until it was too late.

Authorities were hopeful at first that they could figure out the pedestrian's name. He didn't have ID, but "Billy Richards" was on one of his brown work boots.

He was a white man between 40 and 55. He was 5 foot 10 inches tall, 174 pounds, and had a scar below his left kneecap. He had brown eyes, and his gray and brown hair was balding. He wore black pants, a black jacket, and a black Western-style belt. He had a flat-topped ring with a gray stone, and several jailhouse tattoos.

On his right arm, there was a dagger. On the back of the man's left hand, there was a star and a cross. On his left arm, he had a heart with an arrow through it, a heart that said "ROM," and another heart that said "RO."

But authorities never could confirm the name Billy Richards meant a thing.

And so, like the others, he remains a John Doe.

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Update: The fingerprint comparison between the UID and Richard was completed this week and there was no match. One more possibility eliminated for both sides and the search continues for this UID's identity and Richard's whereabouts.

Much appreciation to Ms. Carol Dean, Forensic Investigator with the City of Jacksonville, for pushing this through so quickly and to Captain Barry Cook of the Galveston County Sheriff's Office for doing the comparison promptly.

They were very professional to interact with which is nice to experience!

https://identifyus.org/cases/800

Harry Dana Braswell seems like a plausible match:



http://www.suwanneedemocrat.com/local/x546375690/34-YEAR-OLD-MURDER-GETS-A-NEW-LOOK

He was last seen with a tattoo of a cross and chain on the back of his right hand, and another tattoo of his initials, "HDB," and a heart on his left arm.

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I'm not seeing the resemblances?

Left....young male. Right.......older male
Left....Full mouth. Right.....very thin mouth

Ears different, Hair? Is this an age enhanced photo?

Tulessa said:

I'm not seeing the resemblances?

Left....young male. Right.......older male
Left....Full mouth. Right.....very thin mouth

Ears different, Hair? Is this an age enhanced photo?

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I have doubt myself, but Braswell may have wanted to change his appearance since he was wanted for escaping a prison sentence for murdering an elderly man; the similarities in tattoos are what I was pointing out.

http://doenetwork.org/cases/428dmny.html

Nelson Roman
Missing since May, 1981 from New York City, New York.

He's considerably younger/shorter than the Doe is thought to be, and would have to have started going bald and grey pretty quickly after he disappeared to be this Doe, but his name and some degree of facial similarity make him work checking. Maybe LE could request a copy of his prints from the Air Force, and compare them manually with the limited amount of print they managed to get from the Doe?

I don't tend to call in matches myself for USA cases because I'm in Australia, but if anyone else wants to at some stage, feel free.

Judging by his look, the tattoo could be Rom, what gypsies call themselves.

I came across this article from 2008 while ago and I thought I would share it because this guy reminded me of the john doe
http://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html


On February 21, 1970, Gene Isaac Stees walked away from the state prison in Columbus, Ohio and disappeared. He’d been convicted of bludgeoning his pregnant wife and dumping her body in Dow Lake, near Athens. For 38 years, he’s escaped justice. Today, if he’s still living, he would be 76.


It was a classic love triangle. Gene Stees, 31, a professor at Ohio University, and his wife, Helen, 30, had separated because of his dalliance with a third woman.

https://identifyus.org/cases/800

ME/C Case Number: 83-0331
Duval County, Florida
40 to 55 year old White Male

gray and brown - short; frontal balding

short-sleeved striped short (yellow, blue, pink, & green); black pants; black jacket; black Western-type belt

brown, high top insulated work boot (unknown size; "Billy Richards" written on side)

yellow, metal ring with a gray stone

After the one potential discussed above (who ultimately did not match) it would be interesting to see who else LE has ruled out, if anyone could post the list? The Namus case doesn't appear to have been updated for 18 months.