AR AR- Near Tunica, Mississippi, Lee County John Doe, #UP5181, partial skeletal remains, Jan,.1997, DNA- Charles Howard Wallace, 21, 2025.

[dotr]

After 48 Years, Lee County John Doe (1977) is Now Identified

Arkansas State Police Teams with Othram to Identify a 1977 John Doe

dnasolves.com

In January 1977, the partial skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were found in Lee County, Arkansas. Lee County is a rural area along the Mississippi River on the east side of Arkansas and is near Tunica, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. Several law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and began collecting evidence and investigating. The remains were determined to belong to a man, likely between 16 and 30 years old, who likely died between 1972 and 1977. Despite a lengthy investigation, the man could not be identified and became known as Lee County John Doe (1977). In May 2009, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP5181.

'In 2024, the Arkansas State Police submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the provided evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the man. Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. Reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Charles Howard Wallace. If he had been alive when his remains were found, he would have been around 21 years old. Arkansas State Police officials said the last contact Wallace’s family had with him was in the fall of 1974 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was in his late teens when he disappeared and had been seeking treatment at a halfway house in downtown Memphis.'

 

[Romulus]

For years, almost all of us thought he was Plaquemines John Doe...RIP Charles!

 

[cenazoic]

Its very sad that his mother went to New Orleans to check on BCJD, but Charlie was much closer to home. I wonder if the discovery his remains didn’t make much a splash in the local papers.

RIP, Charlie.

 

[snooptroop88]

Poor thing. Charles looks somewhat like Dennis Lee Reynolds to me, still missing from Illinois, this is Charles on left, Dennis on right:

Dennis missing from Litchfield IL 2/4/1978.

Dennis Lee Reynolds – The Charley Project

Info on Charles' disappearance (remains recovered 1977):
ASP says that Wallace would’ve been 21 years old when his remains were found. Wallace reportedly last contacted his family in Memphis in the fall of 1974. According to ASP, Wallace was in his late teens and was seeking treatment at a halfway house in downtown Memphis.

Human remains found in Arkansas identified nearly 50 years later

Forensic investigators were able to identify the man 48 years after his remains were found near Marianna, Arkansas.

www.localmemphis.com

So Charles' remains were found not far from where he was when he last contacted family. Memphis just shy of an hour from Marianna Arkansas. I wonder if we'll get more info as to how he may have ended up where he did. In the meantime, just very relieved he's been identified.

RIP Charles.

 

[summergirl1]

Its very sad that his mother went to New Orleans to check on BCJD, but Charlie was much closer to home. I wonder if the discovery his remains didn’t make much a splash in the local papers.

RIP, Charlie.

I would assume not. Belle Chasse John Doe getting discovered got more publicity because of the circumstances and the suicide note, from what I recall.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I wonder now if his mother went to see the Belle Chase JD, was hoping deep down for an answer, but realized he wasn't Charles. She knew she'd have been believed if she "claimed" him, and she could have buried him as her son. But decided in the end to do the right thing; she spent time making absolutely sure he wasn't her son and then had to walk away.

 

[Blurgle]

I wonder now if his mother went to see the Belle Chase JD, was hoping deep down for an answer, but realized he wasn't Charles. She knew she'd have been believed if she "claimed" him, and she could have buried him as her son. But decided in the end to do the right thing; she spent time making absolutely sure he wasn't her son and then had to walk away.

That's what a decent person does.