MI MI - Van Buren Co, Covert Twp, Lake MI beach, AsianMale 25-40, UP8600, swim trunks/top, Oct'10

[Gardener1850]

Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: Asian

Estimated Age GroupAdult - Pre 50
Estimated Age Range (Years) 25-40
Estimated Year of Death2010
Estimated PMI Months
Height 5' 6"(66 inches) , Estimated
Weight 173 lbs, Estimated

Hair Color Black
Head Hair Description Straight/sparse hair
Facial Hair Description stubble on upper lip and chin

Eye Color Unknown
Eye Description Appeared to be dark in color

Clothing
Dark colored (blue-grey) swim trunks (short) White/tan vertically striped sleeveless tank top style shirt

Circumstances
Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Body FoundOctober 29, 2010
NamUs Case Created March 30, 2011

Location Covert Township, Michigan
Van Buren County

Circumstances of Recovery
Body was found washed up on the beach from Lake Michigan. Water temps were approximately 51 degrees.
Details of Recovery

Inventory of Remains All parts recovered
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction

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.

[...]

The two are among seven sets of remains state police from the Fifth District are trying to identify through the genealogy project.

Three of the unnamed remains were given up by Lake Michigan — a woman’s body that washed up in 1988 near New Buffalo, a man’s body found on the beach in Covert Township in 2010, a jawbone with teeth discovered near Saugatuck in 2014.

So far, that’s about all that is known about them.

“They’re likely a drowning that will have remains wash up on the shore on Lake Michigan on this side, and those depending on how long in the water, those can be very hard to ID,” state police Fifth District Commander Lt. Chuck Christensen said.

Police figure the jaw bone came from a man who was somewhere between 18 and 99 years old.

The woman was fully clothed — size 38 men’s jeans, running shorts, pantyhose.

The man found in 2010 was Asian, wore dark swim trunks and a striped sleeveless tank top — washed up in Covert Township.

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

BBM.

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

The 5 other Doe's they are attempting to ID:

1979 Covert Twp John Doe:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
MI - MI - Van Buren Co, Wht/HispMale, 33-69, Broken Nose, Spanish Medallion, Timex, Covert Twp, July 1979

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

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

 

[Liv27]

Now a DNA Doe Project case!

 

[JovanSrna]

MSP - Unknown Male from Van Buren County
Main takeaways:
''The decedent is an Asian, Hispanic or Native American male ...''
''He also had extensive dental work. Given the location where the body was located, it's possible the decedent could be from Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois or Minnesota.''

Some clay reconstructions in the link as well, and a profile view sketch.

 

[JovanSrna]

Are there any rule-outs ?

 

[Liv27]

Are there any rule-outs ?

Yes. On NamUs, there are four ruleouts. It says there are five but two of them are the same.

 

[JovanSrna]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
This gent has some similarities. I entered all the potential ethnicities, black hair plus the prospective states for this man.
NamUs only lists Asian for the decedent though while the Michigan State Police includes Hispanic and Native American.

 

[Melt71]

Now a DNA Doe Project case!

Such good news!

 

[Melt71]

UP8600 is now in Bioinformatics.
www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/8600/details?nav

 

[leilarose68]

Here is his admixture, which confirms his asian background:

VanBuren.jpg

Also there has been some confusion because there are two Van Buren John Does (2010 and 1987), but this is the active one right now.

 

[Melt71]

Good to know that he's definately Asian and we can stop looking at NA and hispanic matches. East Asian is China, the Koreas, Japan. Sadly they usually have very low levels of representation in the various DNA dbases.

 

[leilarose68]

Good to know that he's definately Asian and we can stop looking at NA and hispanic matches. East Asian is China, the Koreas, Japan. Sadly they usually have very low levels of representation in the various DNA dbases.

He actually has one of the highest matches at 127cM! Let's hope it really helps the volunteers

 

[victoriarobinson642]

New highest match of 78.5 cM.

 

[summergirl1]

One thing that has occured to me about this John Doe, is he may possibly have been adopted from Korea as a baby or young child and may not have had a Korean name or known his birth family.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Van Buren Co John Doe 2010 - DNA Doe Project Cases

Description On October 29, 2010, a man walking his dog along a private Lake Michigan beach in Covert Township, Michigan came across the body of an unidentified man who had washed ashore. At the time the water temperature was approximately 51°F with high waves and strong winds. Investigators...

dnadoeproject.org