MI MI - Van Buren Co, Covert Twp, HispMale 33-69, UP17351, coin & anchor/ship wheel pendants, Jul'79

[Gardener1850]

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP17351

Demographics
Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian, Hispanic / Latino

Estimated Age Group Adult - Pre 70
Estimated Age Range (Years) 33-69

Estimated Year of Death: 1979

Height 5' 9"-6' 5"(69-77 inches) , Estimated
Weight Cannot Estimate

Hair Color Brown
Head Hair Description Hair believed to be reddish-brown.
Body Hair Description Had leg hair.

Clothing and Accessories

Footwear
Keds brand tennis shoes.

Jewelry
Silver chain with a gold medallion and anchor/ships wheel charm on it. Medallion had the face of Jesus on the front and Spanish writing on the reverse (Our lady of Guadalupe - pray for us).

Circumstances
Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found July 27, 1979
NamUs Case Created January 8, 2018

Location Found Map
Location Covert Twp., Michigan
Van Buren County

Circumstances of Recovery
On 07/27/79 a body was located in a debris pile at a dead-end road in Covert Twp, MI. The person was found to likely be a Hispanic male, early to middle age. It is estimated he was between 5'9" and 6'5" tall. The victim had suffered a broken nose at some point in his life prior to his death. He was wearing a unique religious medallion that had Spanish writing on the reverse. It translated to "our lady of Guadalupe - pray for us." On the same chain was a gold anchor/ships wheel. The victim was also wearing a electric Timex watch with a twist-o-flex band.

Details of Recovery

Inventory of Remains All parts recovered
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Charred/burned

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Gardener1850]

Nov 29, 2019

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Along Interstate 196 south of South Haven, Covert Township Police were stymied by a pair of decades-long mysteries:

What were the identities of the two bodies found near the highway a decade apart? And, how did they get there?

The woman’s body, found in 1988, was nicknamed 196 Jane Doe, and now has a name thanks to the Michigan State Police genealogy project: Marcia Bateman, of Oklahoma City.

The man’s body, discovered in 1979, never got a nickname and remains nameless.

Police hope DNA from his remains will help identify him, too.

“It would be great for the family,” said retired Covert Township Police Chief Rick Winans, who helped discover the man’s badly burned body. “I’m sure, like the girl from Oklahoma, what family she has left after all these years was glad to find out what happened to her.”

Winans was a sergeant on trash patrol in July 1979, working with the then-chief to sniff out those dumping garbage at the end of 30th Avenue, where it stops just shy of I-196.

He said they spotted a smoldering green tarp just off the road.

“Digging through it, we found a pretty badly burned body that was in there,” Winans said.

The man had been shot in the head.

Scientists at Michigan State University used the skull to rebuild his face out of clay, and determined he likely was Hispanic, Winans said. Police handed out flyers, hoping the public could help identify him.

“Never had nothing on that, no missing people,” Winans said.

Other clues left behind didn’t help, either: a Timex watch and a gold chain with a religious medallion inscribed with Spanish writing that translated to “Our Lady of Guadalupe — pray for us.”

“We just kind of assumed it must have been somebody from one of the migrant camps that come up, made some bad enemies, and the enemies took him out there and did him in and burned him up,” Winans said.

Forty years later, Michigan State Police are trying to name the nameless man by submitting his DNA to a public genealogy database, hoping it will match one of his relatives.

Read More:
Retired chief hopes new DNA test solves 40-year mystery

Marcia Bateman's thread: Identified! - MI - Covert Township, WhtFem 730UFMI, 23-40, Near I-96, Oct'88 - Marcia Bateman

The 5 other Doe threads they are attempting to ID:

1988 New Buffalo Jane Doe:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
MI - MI - New Buffalo, Wht Fem 43-53 UP8228 foud in lake Michigan April 1988

2010 Covert Township John Doe
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
MI - MI- Van Buren Co, Asian Male, 25-40, Beach of Lake Michigan, Covert Twp, Oct 2010

2014 Saugatuck John Doe (Maxilla w/teeth)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
MI - MI - Allegan Co, Male, 18-99, Maxilla w/teeth, Shore of Lake Michigan, Saugatuck, July 2014

1993 St. Joseph County Child John Doe (Age 7-12)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
MI - MI - St. Joseph Co., WhtMale UP9894, 7-12, partial skull buried, Nov'93

1987 Keeler Twp. John Doe (Age 15-22)
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
MI - MI - Van Buren Co, HispMale, 15-22, Busch Gardens Tee, Keeler Twp, Dec 1987

 

[MadMcGoo]

This seems more unusual than the other jewelry.

On the same chain was a gold anchor/ships wheel.

The article says that, unlike Marcia Bateman, he never got a nickname. Maybe we should call him “Captain”.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Jesus Coin- Virgin of Guadalupe Sterling Medallion pendant. | Collectors Weekly
I think I found "Captain's" medallion - the quality of the NAMUS photo made it a bit hard to tell.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Jesus Coin- Virgin of Guadalupe Sterling Medallion pendant. | Collectors Weekly
I think I found "Captain's" medallion - the quality of the NAMUS photo made it a bit hard to tell.

Yes! That’s definitely it.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Facial composite of Covert Township John Doe found on July 27, 1979. (NamUs)
COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A man’s burned body was found in a pile of debris at the end of a dead-end road in Covert Township, Michigan 43 years ago. He still hasn’t been identified.

He was found on July 27, 1979, by retired Covert Township Police Chief Rick Winans and the then-chief of police. The two were working to find people dumping garbage at the end of 30th Avenue, where it stops before I-196, according to WOODTV.

They saw a smoldering green tarp just off the road and that’s when they discovered the body.

“Digging through it, we found a pretty badly burned body that was in there,” Winans told WOODTV in 2019.

The man had been shot in the head before he was burned and dumped at the end of the dead-end road.

Scientists at Michigan State University used his skull to rebuild his face out of clay and his DNA is on file, with investigators still hoping to identify him.

The unidentified man is believed to be a Hispanic male in early to middle age. He is believed to be between 5′9′' to 6′5′' tall.

He had a broken nose at some point in his life before he died. He was wearing a unique religious medallion that had Spanish writing on the back. It translated to “our lady of Guadalupe - pray for us.” On the same chain was a gold anchor and ship’s wheel.

He was wearing an electric Timex watch with a twist-o-flex band and Keds brand tennis shoes. Due to his burns, he was unrecognizable but his DNA has been collected.

Silver chain with gold medallion and watch found on Covert Township John Doe on July 27, 1979. (NamUs)

Man shot in head, burned and dumped at end of road in Covert Township still hasn’t been ID’d 43 years later

A man’s burned body was found in a pile of debris at the end of a dead-end road in Covert Township, Michigan 43 years ago. He still hasn’t been identified.

www.clickondetroit.com

 

[Nate_Bro]

Ricardo Marquez sticks out for me. Also the scar under the eye could be related to the broken nose.
In any case.... BUMP.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[lightofmine99]

His NamUs was modified on 10/02/2024 but there are no public exclusions.