Identified! TN - Jefferson Co, Body in a Bag, Douglas Lake, Dandridge, Mar'19 - Earl Pizzoferrato

Gardener1850

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Body found in bag that washed up along Douglas Lake in Dandridge Sunday, sheriff says

March 12, 2019

DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — Investigators found a body in a bag that washed up on the lake shore along Douglas Lake in Dandridge Sunday, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

At around 4:32 p.m. Sunday, deputies were dispatched to Lake Ridge Drive for a suspicious bag that washed up. According to the sheriff's office, a man was walking on his property when he noticed the bag near shore and called deputies.

Upon further investigation, deputies said they learned the bag contained human remains and launched a homicide investigation.

Body found in bag that washed up along Douglas Lake in Dandridge Sunday, sheriff says
 

Gardener1850

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The first case linked above is a father and son missing amidst a housing scheme. Supposedly they were "lost at sea" but the father was seen without the son several days before he disappeared on the way to Hawaii and the father owed $900,000 to investors when he disappeared. Very interesting. I wonder if they have any connections to Tennessee.

ETA: most of the other recent cases seem to be wandering seniors and it seems unlikely they ended up in TN after wandering off/getting lost.

MOO.
 

Gardener1850

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Just a bit of trivia, "The Walking Dead" series premiered on October 31, 2010. So this is someone missing after Oct 2010: The Walking Dead (TV series) - Wikipedia

The fact that they were able to read a name on the clothing leads me to believe it is a recent case (within the past year) and the clothes were not very degraded by the elements yet.

MOO.
 
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PommyMommy

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MAR 20, 2019
TBI releases photos, asks for help to identify man found dead along Douglas Lake

[...]

T-shirt_1553098520258_78371619_ver1.0_640_360.jpg Belt-Buckle_1553098520271_78371620_ver1.0_640_360.jpg Belt-2_1553098519006_78371618_ver1.0_640_360.jpg Belt-1_1553098518933_78371617_ver1.0_640_360.jpg
The body was found near Lakeside Drive on March 10. Officials don't know how long it had been there. They also don't know the victim's race, height or approximate age.

Investigators hope someone can identify the victim's clothing. He was wearing a Walking Dead T-shirt, a belt buckle that has an image of a horse and horseshoe in the center, and a belt with an eagle pattern and the name "Gerald" stamped into the leather.

[...]
 

ADKGemini

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Investigators are sharing pictures of the man's clothing in the hopes that someone may identify him. The victim was wearing a "#WalkingDead" T-shirt, blue jeans and a belt buckle that has a horse and #horseshoe on it.
The man's belt has an eagle design printed on it, along with the name "Gerald" stamped into the leather

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TBI asking for help identifying body found in East Tennessee
 

PommyMommy

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APR 1, 2019
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Gives Update on Found Remains
[...]

Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Coffey stated Friday, March 29, 2019 that his department checked a few days ago and it appears that forensic information is still at least a couple of weeks away. The Sheriff said that they are anticipating the discovery of the cause of death, race and age of the victim, as well as other information that could assist in identifying the male victim. Despite rumors to the contrary, Sheriff Coffey said that there have been no other discoveries of body parts. Both the Sheriff’s Department and the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency had boats in the water after the initial discovery but nothing has turned up to date.

It is still unclear if the remains were initially tossed in Douglas Lake or ended up there due to the significant flooding that occurred in the region around that time. The Sheriff said that there are no missing person cases in Jefferson County that fit and a body has washed from as far away as Greene County to Henderson Island on Douglas Lake in the past so it is a possibility that flooding transported the remains to the shores of the local lake. What they do have to go on is a Walking Dead t-shirt, jeans, a belt that has the embossed name Gerald and a belt buckle...

[...]
 

A.Critter

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A.Critter

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Unsure as to how helpful speculation is here, but the potential removal of his hands is quite passionate/symbolic.

Makes me wonder if someone was under the impression that this man had taken something?
 

Shin Masamura

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The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Date of Last Contact: November 5, 2015
Last Known Location Map
Location: Charleston, West Virginia
County: Kanawha County
Missing Age: 50 Years
Current Age54 Years
First Name: Gerald
Middle Name: Matthew
Last Name: Smith
Nickname/Alias :Jerry

SexMale
Height 5' 10" - 6' 1" (70 - 73 Inches)
Weight 175 - 180 lbs
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Circumstances of Disappearance He was living on the streets of Charleston, WV (4 hours away)but has not found in the usual places and other's have not seen him.
Deformity: Crippled left finger, may be amputated. (Might be a reason why hands were removed? Identification purposes)
 

A.Critter

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hmm seems there was a little confusion regarding the reporting date vs when she last saw her brother, idk how to fix that tbh
 
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