Identified! NH - Salem, WhtMale 1716UMNH, 20-30, ditch off I-93, rod in femur, Aug'69 - Winston Richard Morris

[WitheredSadness]

I keep coming back to John Lake. (https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/4386/0/) The chin sticks out to me. Granted, a year and a half is a long time to be missing before being found in NH. His son made this site: http://www.johnlake.com/resources.html for his father and some information that Eric made. There is also a thread on Websleuths dedicated to John Lake as well (https://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?69580-NY-John-Lake-37-New-York-City-10-Dec-1967).

 

[Gardener1850]

Letter: Salem needs Doe project

 

[Alleykins]

Identified by fingerprints:

Murder victim found in NH in 1969 identified

From the article:

"Officials said on Monday that the remains of a man found on the side of Interstate 93 in Salem, New Hampshire, on August 7, 1969, have been identified....
The remains are that of Winston Richard Morris of Barre, Vermont.
Officials notified Morris’ family of the identification of his remains. The family told investigators that they had made numerous efforts over the years to locate Morris, but all of their efforts were unsuccessful. Those efforts included contacting law enforcement agencies, the Salvation Army, and the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries."


After speaking with family members and reviewing records, officials say a timeline was established of the movements of Morris in the weeks leading up to his death:

• Released from Vermont State Prison on May 9, 1969
• Spent time in Boston, Massachusetts in June 1969
• Spent time in Glastonbury, Connecticut in July 1969
• Last seen in Burlington, Vermont on July 25, 1969
• Found dead in Salem, New Hampshire on August 7, 1969"

 

[Alleykins]

If the family contacted law enforcement, and his remains were found only a couple hours away, not to mention the recon looks a lot like him, someone really dropped the ball on this case.

 

[JovanSrna]

If the family contacted law enforcement, and his remains were found only a couple hours away, not to mention the recon looks a lot like him, someone really dropped the ball on this case.

Mere hours away turned into half a century away smh

 

[Eman317]

RIP Winston. Hopefully LE will be able to solve his murder.

 

[madamx]

RIP Winston.. hopefully they can find out what happened

 

[madamx]

If the family contacted law enforcement, and his remains were found only a couple hours away, not to mention the recon looks a lot like him, someone really dropped the ball on this case.

Oh Boy you are Not Kidding! And seriously the recon really did look like him.. .. how could nobody notice?

 

[Al Ka]

If the family contacted law enforcement, and his remains were found only a couple hours away, not to mention the recon looks a lot like him, someone really dropped the ball on this case.

To be fair there was no national fingerprint database established yet at that time and we know how difficult it was and still is to identify someone found in different state.

It seems he was identified in 2019 thanks to NH criminologist using new FBI DNA database where you can compare even partial fingerprints. As far as I recall that database is in existance only last 2-3 years and FBI now cooperates with NamUs comparing that database even partial prints to unidentified and missing.

Quote from article:

Morris was eventually buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Salem. The Cold Case Unit obtained a court order and exhumed the body in December 2012.

Two computer-aided searches of a national fingerprint database and one of a regional database also came up empty.

New Hampshire criminologist Timothy Jackson said he reconstructed the fingerprints from the left middle finger of the exhumed body, first by hydrating the fingers and then realizing the more accurate prints were in the inner layers of skin rather than the external epidermis.

“The finger had been in the ground since 1969,” Jackson said about the challenges.

Jackson entered a description of the fingerprints into the FBI’s Automated Biometric Identification System by hand — something that is usually not recommended — and Morris’ name came up.

Photos of Winston Richard Morris

Cold Case Unit identifies man found shot to death beside I-93 in Salem

 

[TmmEye]

I took the liberty of restoring the photos. Here’s the scoop on Skip:

*Born April 26, 1939 in Barre, Vermont to Winston Elwyn Morris and Meriem Catherine Fortin

*Mother died between 1940 and 1947

*Father remarried to Phyllis Martha Willard on December 27, 1947 in Montpelier, Vermont

*Father was a salesman in an unknown industry

*Skip married M.F. on December 1, 1961 (Not using name to protect her identity)

*Skip was in the military

*Released from Vermont State Prison on May 9, 1969

*Spent time in Boston, Massachusetts in June of 1969

*Spent time in Glastonbury, Connecticut and Burlington, Vermont in July 1969

*Last seen alive on July 25, 1969 in Burlington, Vermont

*Skip’s decomposed body is found on August 7, 1969 in Salem, New Hampshire

 

[TmmEye]

the restored photos

 

[Vern]

If the family contacted law enforcement, and his remains were found only a couple hours away, not to mention the recon looks a lot like him, someone really dropped the ball on this case.

Not to mention his fingerprints having been on file … the entire time. Oy yoy yoy.

 

[TmmEye]

Not to mention his fingerprints having been on file … the entire time. Oy yoy yoy.

Guys, please don’t insult the family. He’s identified now - we shouldn’t judge the family by any means. Now that Skip has been id’d I’m going to start researching some questions:

1. When did Skip’s mother die?
2. Did Skip have siblings? Any trouble in his youth?
3. What sort of crimes did he commit?
4. Why was Skip in Salem, NH?

 

[TmmEye]

My correction- skip’s parents were divorced. Looks like his mother never remarried. She was also a seamstress btw..

 

[Eman317]

Interesting that he was released from prison 3 months before he was found dead. What was he in jail for initially? Did he make any friends while he was in prison? Did he make any enemies while he was in prison? Maybe the enemies he had put out a hit on him and hired somebody that was on the outside to kill him once he got out.

 

[TmmEye]

Interesting that he was released from prison 3 months before he was found dead. What was he in jail for initially? Did he make any friends while he was in prison? Did he make any enemies while he was in prison? Maybe the enemies he had put out a hit on him and hired somebody that was on the outside to kill him once he got out.

Those are good questions. Anyways, I found an address history via the census and his marriage certificate for Skip:

*8 Foster Street, Barre, VT
*37 Foster Street, Barre, VT

 

[Vern]

Guys, please don’t insult the family. He’s identified now - we shouldn’t judge the family by any means. Now that Skip has been id’d I’m going to start researching some questions:

1. When did Skip’s mother die?
2. Did Skip have siblings? Any trouble in his youth?
3. What sort of crimes did he commit?
4. Why was Skip in Salem, NH?

I didn't see anyone insult or judge the family. Where are you getting that from?? Rather the opposite -this gent was reported missing by his loved ones from the outset and his fingerprints were on file the entire time. Back when he should have been identified, they only ran his prints in Boston and New Hampshire and skipped Vermont. If only they had ran them against Vermont, Skip would have been home years ago. That's truly heartbreaking for this family.

Cold Case Unit identifies man found shot to death beside I-93 in Salem

… Authorities say a work crew discovered Morris’ body on Aug. 7, 1969, in a water-filled pit on the northbound side of I-93 just south of Exit 2. He had no personal items on him, and manual searches of fingerprint files in Boston and New Hampshire came up negative...

Heartbreaking; may his family have some comfort and peace.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Body found in 1969 finally identified in 2020; authorities seek tips to help solve killing

 

[30Anne]

I cannot see a actual post that reads that Winton Richard Morris was a match for this John Doe.

Here is a link.

Skip Morris

In the link it says that Winton was missed by family members and they had tried to report him missing. Winton was known as Skip, and Skip had recently released from prison before his death. I am glad he has his name back.

 

[30Anne]

Please delete my previous post - for reason earlier this morning only page 1 loaded and I didnt think there had been a post about Winton. My apologies.