OK OK - Calumet, I-40, Male 25-35, UP4964, vehicle accident, ring w/tiger eye stone, Jan'84

[Romulus]

1810UMOK - Unidentified Male

Decedent's ring.

Date of Discovery: January 22, 1984
Location of Discovery: Calumet, Canadian County, Oklahomak
Estimated Date of Death: Minutes prior
State of Remains: Burned
Cause of Death: Car accident

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 20-35 years old
Race: Unknown. Possibly White and/or Native American
Sex: Male
Height: 5'4" to 5'8"
Weight: Unknown
Hair: Light brown to blond, cut short.
Eye Color: Bluish gray
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Complete spina bifida occulta of sacrum.

Identifiers
Dentals:Available. No evidence of periodontal disease. Dental calculus on lower anterior teeth. #2-occlusal amalgam x2, not crossing the transverse ridge, #3-mesial occlusal amalgam and occlusal amalgam, don't cross transverse ridge, #4 and #13-MOD amalgam, #5-DO amalgam, #8-lingual pit amalgam, #9 occlusal chip, #12-large carious lesion and/or lost filling, #14-MO amalgam and occlusal amalgam, do not cross transverse ridge, and #18 and #31-large carious lesion.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Not available.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Unknown.
Jewelry: Ring with two small clear stones and one large brown stone worn on the right ring finger.
Additional Personal Items: Unknown.

Circumstances of Discovery
The decedent was the driver of a two vehicle collision at mile marker 115 on I-40 west bound in Calumet, Oklahoma on January 27, 1984.

He was driving an apparently stolen dually pickup truck when he swerved off the road and struck a parked semi truck in the rear.

The semi truck driver tried to lend assistance but the pickup was in flames. The decedent was noted to be intoxicated.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Agency Contact Person: Angela Berg or Carlos Zambrano
Agency Phone Number: 918-295-3400 (Berg) or 405-239-7141 (Zambrano)
Agency E-Mail: ang7777777(at)cox.net
Agency Case Number: 8400169

Agency Name: Oklahoma City Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 405-297-1129
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

Agency Name: Oklahoma Highway Patrol - Troop A
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 405-425-2285
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 4964
Former Hot Case Number: 1852

Information Source(s)
NamUs
1810UMOK

 

[BrownBear]

2 Exclusions
MP1113 Paul Vogen 11/09/1983 Maricopa, AZ
MP8211 Reeves Johnson 02/02/1983 York, ME

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The remains of a male were found in Calumet on January 22, 1984. The man was driving a stolen pickup truck on I-40 when he hit a parked semi. The driver of the semi got out to assist the man, however the pickup truck was already in flames. The man is believed to have stood at 5 foot 7 inches tall and between the ages of 25 and 35. He had blonde hair and blue eyes.

NamUs #UP4965

Calumet Doe 1984 - Oklahoma Cold Cases

The remains of a male were found in Calumet on January 22, 1984. The man was driving a stolen pickup truck on I-40 when he hit a parked semi. The driver of the semi got out to assist the man, however the pickup truck was already in flames. The man is believed to have stood […]

oklahomacoldcases.org

 

[Beccalicious]

Bumping

 

[Laughing]

Did LE report where the truck was stolen?

Might be a help, imho.

He had dental work -- but then stopped going, suggested by the cavity -- large carious legion.

Military, incarceration? Just guessing.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[MadMcGoo]

UP4964 Unidentified male 1984 OK

Clipping found in The Daily Oklahoman published in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on 1/23/1984. UP4964 Unidentified male 1984 OK

www.newspapers.com

I noticed this under circumstance notes on his NamUs profile (I’m guessing it was meant to say something like, “Sgt Thompson OHP was working the Parkview Hospital parking lot from where the car was stolen in 1984” JMO):

-working parking lot from where car was stolen.

working Parkview Hospital Sgt Thompson OHP (in 1984)

There was a Parkview Hospital in El Reno that has since been demolished. That’s roughly 8 miles east of the crash site.

 

[Romulus]

He had blonde hair and blue eyes.

This makes me think he was actually white Caucasian and not Hispanic or Native American.

 

[Laughing]

This makes me think he was actually white Caucasian and not Hispanic or Native American.

Not looking for a link right now, but Native Americans have some distinctive dental markers -- tooth shape, etc. This may be a mixed-race man who qualified as a member of a tribe, or a mixed-race man with admixture that produced indicative dentition.

Well, not sure I've used those words since Physical Anthropology in 1980!

The 'hidden' spina bifida is interesting. Apparently some people have no symptoms, while others have many difficulties.

Spina Bifida Occulta (Hidden Spina Bifida)

Spina bifida occulta is a mild form of spina bifida, where your spinal cord abnormally develops in the uterus. This condition rarely causes symptoms or needs treatment.

my.clevelandclinic.org

Plenty of reasons to leave a hospital upset -- was this man upset abut his own care, a friend or family member's care?

Just terminated for drinking on the job?

HAving lotsa trouble with Google Maps this evening!

Mercy Hospital El Reno to Calumet

www.google.com

"Mile Marker 115", westbound is just east of exit 108. Family members settled homesteads in this at opening in 1901. Currently, Exit 108 has a rather cheesy convenience store/souvenir shop.

Calumet is a tiny town north or the 115 exit.

So -- the truck-swiping drunk driver crashed on I-40 about the Calumet exit. No idea what the area looked like in the '80's?

 

[MadMcGoo]

El Reno isn’t a big town, but is right off of I40, which spans the entire country. If he wasn’t local and just passing through on I40 from another state, why go into El Reno to that hospital? Why even steal the truck? Where did he get intoxicated, a local bar? Was he hitchhiking across the country? I didn’t see any other newspaper articles mentioning the accident or the theft of the vehicle.

I’m thinking they meant exit 115 and not mile marker 115 (could have been one and the same in 1984). Exit 108 is about 6 miles east of the Calumet exit.

Here are a couple of street views of westbound I40 coming up to exit 115.



Here are aerial views of that general area in 1986 and 2022. The red X indicates about where I captured the street views. (Don’t laugh! It’s hard trying to make a little X with your finger on a phone screen. )

 

[MadMcGoo]

Danny would be a good match if not for the hair and eye color.

 

[Laughing]

Re: Mile Market 115

I could not get Google Maps to stop at the exit, so let it go on to Calumet.

Apparently the crash was on I-40, in the are that today is the exit.

I've driven this section of road plenty of times. The Exit Numbers are Mile Marker numbers Exit 115 is 115 miles east of the border with Texas. iirc, this is just how the Interstate exits are numbered.

I don't think the Calumet exit was there in 1984, but haven't figured out a way to tell.

My first reaction -- he was upset about something at the hospital, stole the truck, headed west, wrecked.

But -- if was visiting a patient, he should have been reported missing.
If he was terminated for drinking on the job -- that termination should have been tied to the theft & the wreck.

A great mystery....

 

[MadMcGoo]

I meant to add a note in my post that US270 is the same as I40. That’s confusing because Google Earth shows it as US-270 on the image. I guess I didn’t notice the 1984 timelapse view of the area, but it looks like the exit was there (I’m not sure there’s a way to sharpen that satellite image).



This drove me crazy yesterday even though it’s probably not relevant . @Laughing You’re right about the mile marker system (miles east of the TX border), but exit 115 is 108 miles east of the border, which confused me even more.



I noticed while looking for newspaper articles that there is/was a federal prison about 2.5 miles from where the truck was stolen. There were articles published about escapees from that facility, but I didn’t find any from around this time.

 

[Laughing]

There are Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers signs, you betcha.

My genealogy files include land claims/deeds in Caddo County, birth certificates from Hydro, newspaper church columns, marriage licenses, funeral notices, Elocution Contest certificates, city basketball team rosters....

I've had Thanksgiving Dinner in the Officer's Club at Fort Sill. Picture of Sis & I on the cannon -- an artillery base.

Doesn't help us identify this decedent, of course.

Still pondering -- if LE knew the truck was stolen, why hasn't anyone figured out who this guy is???

The dental work is a mystery as well -- he had good care for a while, but died with a large cavity?

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[Laughing]

Okay, my stray thought for this afternoon:

Report states decedent was burned beyond recognition, right?

So how do they know his eyes were blue? Do eyes survive a fire of this type?

Blue-eyed guy with a slight build. Sigh!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Okay, my stray thought for this afternoon:

Report states decedent was burned beyond recognition, right?

So how do they know his eyes were blue? Do eyes survive a fire of this type?

Blue-eyed guy with a slight build. Sigh!

I wonder. Might someone have seen him prior to the accident? Sgt. Thompson or someone from the hospital who witnessed the theft?