(I'm a big contributor to the Unidentified Awareness wiki and I am always on the lookout for international doe cases to share add there. So I figured I would share some of the Doe cases I've added to the Wiki onto this subreddit to help bring further attention to them. I'll be mostly copying my work and moving it over to this subreddit

If you know of any good international doe cases please let me know so I can add them to the wiki

To clear up some confusion, by international I mean cases outside the anglosphere entirely unless we're talking about African, Pacific Islands or Caribbean nations

I guess I'll include this brief message at the start of all my posts here.

To make up for how long my absence from this sub has been, I decided I'd make two posts in one day)

On February 6, 2023, one of the residents of Buskøy, Norway, made his way to the local pier to change his boat's fenders. Located at the western end of Sognefjord in the Solund municipality, Buskøy was quite literally an everyone-knows-everyone community, as Buskøy housed a permanent population of only eight people.

As he approached the pier, he saw what he believed to be a mannequin washed ashore on the rocks. He didn't find that odd at first.

They called the area "the place of seeking" because the wind and ocean currents often brought things from far away ashore. In fact, this same man once found a bottle containing mail from Scotland not far from what he thought was a mannequin.

Upon closer inspection, he realized the object was the corpse of a naked man wearing only socks. He covered the body with a tarpaulin and waited for the police.

The body hidden under the tarp.

When police arrived, the body was in rough condition. While parts of the decedent were intact, others had completely decomposed to the bone, and the body was covered in adipocere wax. Unfortunately, the skin on his face had decayed down to the skull, leaving his face unidentifiable. He was believed to have been in the water for a considerable time after his death.

The decedent was brought to Haukeland University Hospital under the placeholder name "R2300036" for an autopsy. The coroner was unable to determine the cause of death but could provide the police with the following information about the decedent.

The level of decomposition and adipocere buildup indicated that he had been in the water for about six months before washing ashore in Buskøy. All of his teeth, including his molars, were missing. Some had only recently fallen out, while others were removed during life, with signs of healing. Unfortunately, this meant the police could not compare any dental records to the decedent.

The coroner also noted minor injuries to the decedent's forehead; these injuries were not fatal but may have induced unconsciousness. Based on the nature of the injuries, they may have been the result of the fall. Otherwise, no injuries were noted on the decedent's body. Based on the decedent's skull and facial features, he was of Asian descent, stood at 166 - 170 cm tall and was 20-40 years old. Foul play was not suspected

The decedent's fingerprints and DNA were taken and compared against Norway's databases, but yielded no matches. No one matching the decedent's characteristics was found in Norway's missing persons database.

The decedent's gray and black socks, with "Burlington Reinforced" stitched onto them, were a Burlington brand based in the Philippines but sold in many other countries.

The socks

The closest country with retail locations selling the socks was the United Kingdom, where Norwegian police believe the decedent likely purchased them.

After making that connection, they further reasoned that the decedent likely had died in the United Kingdom, and the currents of the English Channel had carried him all the way to Norway. Norwegian police contacted British authorities, who checked their own missing person reports but found no matches. Afterward, the police reached out to Interpol, which also could not provide any meaningful leads

Forensic geneticists compared the man's DNA profile to the DNA profiles of other men worldwide to try to pinpoint his origin. According to the results, the man likely originated from Southeast Asia, more specifically, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The man also had a cord around his waist, fastened with a button that read "Jag Jeans." Hanging from the cord was a yellow cylinder. The police found many "Jag Jeans" brands ranging from Australia to North America; the name was also used by a Philippine company. The button was later identified as a product of that company. The yellow cylinder was believed to be an anting-anting, a traditional Filipino object believed to ward off evil spirits.

https://preview.redd.it/qy88dii4tyge1.png?width=978&format=png&auto=webp&s=5e89a777260e0f667d89424bdb5b228745936b00

The object in question

On November 4, 2023 the man was buried as "NN" in a small funeral service attended by only five people.

The Solundmannen's funeral service

In May 2024, the case was reopened as the TV program, Åsted Norge, worked with the police and the Norwegian Maritime Authority. They mapped all the nearby ocean currents from the North Sea to the English Channel to try and track where he had entered the ocean before his appearance in Norway. They then looked into all nearby man-overboard incidents from August 2021 to January 2023.

On March 12, 2022, a man disappeared from the container ship HMM Gdansk off the German coast. At the time, the German coast guard was unable to recover him.

The German Coast Guard's search.

The crew of Åsted Norge tracked down the man's friends and relatives via Facebook. He was a 40-year-old man named Camilo. His former colleagues recognized the button as he often wore "Jag Jeans" clothing. He was 162 cm tall; while shorter than the decedent's estimated height, it was within the margin of error. Camilo also suffered from periodontitis, which resulted in the surgical removal of his teeth and required him to wear dentures.

Camilo

Åsted Norge reached out to German authorities, who still possessed Camilo's personal belongings. German police took DNA samples from Camilo's toothbrush and shipped them to Norway for comparison with the decedent's DNA. The samples were not a match.

According to one of the sources below, 50 percent of the Filipino population suffers from periodontitis and an anting-anting was not an obscure unknown item. So while Camilo's similarities to the "Solundmannen" may be a coincidence. It was not considered an especially egregious one

After Camilo's exclusion, the Norwegian police have yet to provide any additional information.

Sources

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Solundmannen (I wrote this article)

https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/Åsted-norge/ingen-vet-hvem-den-dode-mannen-er-noen-ma-jo-savne-han/16700223/ (NSFW)

https://www.ba.no/likfunnet-i-solund-tror-mannen-kommer-fra-utlandet/s/5-8-2181882

https://www.nrk.no/vestland/politiet-naermare-svar-etter-mystisk-likfunn-i-sjoen-1.16287494

https://www.nrk.no/vestland/xl/fem-personar-kom-i-bisetjinga-til-ukjend-mann-1.16621456

Other International Does

Teddybjørn-mannen (Norway)

Chaoyang Jane Doe (China)

Vestskoven John Doe (Denmark)

Man A (Taiwan)

Izmir John Doe (Turkey)

Sergei (Russia)

Bor Jane Doe (Czech Republic)

Malanzhou Jane Doe (China)

Bolands John Doe (Antigua and Barbuda)

Faxaskjól John Doe (Iceland)

The Stranger of Lipari (Italy)

Split John Doe (Croatia)

The Man of Somiedo (Spain)

5 Unidentified Does in Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

The Izhora Maniac (Russia)

Taiping John Doe (China)

Tokyo Station Jane Doe (Japan)

Tonari Yamamoto (Japan)

Bak Kheng Leu John Doe (Cambodia)

Kassim (Singapore)

Beau Vallon John Doe (The Seychelles)

Setiabudi 13 (Indonesia)

Gyeyang District Jane Doe (South Korea)

Uljin Jane Doe (South Korea)

Islas Sisagas Jane Doe (Spain)

The Mysterious Blonde From Itu (Brazil)

Sunny Tang (Singapore)

Oettingen Jane Does (Germany)

Lung Kwu Tan John Doe (Hong Kong)

(I'm a big contributor to the Unidentified Awareness wiki and I am always on the lookout for international doe cases to share add there. So I figured I would share some of the Doe cases I've added to the Wiki onto this subreddit to help bring further attention to them. I'll be mostly copying my work and moving it over to this subreddit

If you know of any good international doe cases please let me know so I can add them to the wiki

To clear up some confusion, by international I mean cases outside the anglosphere entirely unless we're talking about African, Pacific Islands or Caribbean nations

I guess I'll include this brief message at the start of all my posts here.

To make up for how long my absence from this sub has been, I decided I'd make two posts in one day)

At 11:00 a.m. on June 18, 2014, a fisherman spotted what appeared to be a human foot bobbing on the water's surface, 15 to 30 feet offshore, near the Tuen Mun Castle Peak Power Station in Lung Kwu Tan, Hong Kong. Concerned that someone was drowning, he swiftly called the police.

Police officers and divers from the fire department arrived and confirmed that the man was already dead. They struggled to retrieve his body, so divers were sent down. There, they discovered the man's left hand tightly bound with a three-foot-long iron chain, which had been wrapped around his wrist twice before being locked with a padlock. The chain was attached to a dumbbell. They had to cut the chain to bring the decedent's body to the surface.

https://preview.redd.it/cv8iuhxsoyge1.png?width=540&format=png&auto=webp&s=e3de812c6759e5b4c35210012abef828c882aead

The police at the scene

When his body was examined, no wounds were found on the decedent's remains, leading investigators to conclude that he had been wrapped in the chain and thrown into the water while alive. He had no identification but possessed 38 yuan in cash, suggesting he may have originated from mainland China.

Alongside the currency, he was carrying a small spring-assisted knife, a lighter and cigarettes. For clothing, he was wearing a green t-shirt, black jeans and white sneakers. His age was placed at 20-30.

When his body hit the sea floor, the chain and dumbbell became wedged between rocks on the seabed, where he drowned. Investigators estimated that he had been on the sea floor for approximately three to seven days, and due to bloating, the body floated upside down, with the head submerged and feet sticking out of the water. The police also considered the possibility that he had been thrown into the water elsewhere and drifted downstream until he became wedged between the rocks.

A diagram of the crime scene

The decedent's fingerprints and DNA were taken but could not be matched to anyone in Hong Kong's database.

Sources

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Lung_Kwu_Tan_John_Doe (I wrote this article)

https://orientaldaily.on.cc/cnt/news/20140619/00176_041.html

https://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=104090

Other International Does

Teddybjørn-mannen (Norway)

Chaoyang Jane Doe (China)

Vestskoven John Doe (Denmark)

Man A (Taiwan)

Izmir John Doe (Turkey)

Sergei (Russia)

Bor Jane Doe (Czech Republic)

Malanzhou Jane Doe (China)

Bolands John Doe (Antigua and Barbuda)

Faxaskjól John Doe (Iceland)

The Stranger of Lipari (Italy)

Split John Doe (Croatia)

The Man of Somiedo (Spain)

5 Unidentified Does in Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

The Izhora Manica (Russia)

Taiping John Doe (China)

Tokyo Station Jane Doe (Japan)

Tonari Yamamoto (Japan)

Bak Kheng Leu John Doe (Cambodia)

Kassim (Singapore)

Beau Vallon John Doe (The Seychelles)

Setiabudi 13 (Indonesia)

Gyeyang District Jane Doe (South Korea)

Uljin Jane Doe (South Korea)

Islas Sisagas Jane Doe (Spain)

The Mysterious Blonde From Itu (Brazil)

Sunny Tang (Singapore)

Oettingen Jane Does (Germany)

Steel-toe boots found with decedent (size 10)

On Tuesday, April 13th, 2004, a couple riding their horses discovered the scattered skeletal remains of an unidentified male in brush covered prairie, 3 miles north of Milford, Utah and about ½ of a mile northwest of the Milford Airport. The decedent's manner of death was blunt force trauma, indicated by two fractures to the skull. He is believed to be a victim of homicide. However, it is not known if a weapon was used in the murder. 

The decedent was an Asian male between the approximate ages of 39 and 60 years old, with the UTPSD (Utah Public Safety Department) narrowing the approximate age down to between 50 and 56 years old. His height was 5 ft 6 in (66 inches) and his weight was 120 to 150 lbs. The decedent had short, straight black hair. He was speculated to be of Vietnamese descent, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety. The decedent's postmortem interval was between 2 and 8 years. There was evidence of a healed fracture on the maxillary bone, to the left of the nasal aperture. The decedent's dental records were obtained and entered into NCIC (National Crime Information Center) and his DNA is currently available at the University of North Texas. His fingerprints and eye color were unavailable due to the condition of his remains. 

When found, the decedent was wearing a camouflage patterned jacket with military insignias on both upper arms (size Small/Short), a brown cotton v-neck t-shirt, men's “Hanes” brand cotton briefs (waist size 32/34), white ribbed sports socks, black “Solo Semore” brand denim jeans (size 38, oversized and baggy) that were speckled with blue paint, a black leather belt with a plain metal buckle cinched to the last notch with bright blue paint splattered on the front of the belt, and a pair of yellow/tan soft leather lace-up steel-toe boots with the letter “H” branded on the sides (size 10) with bright blue paint splattered on the toe of the left boot. In the decedent's possession were 10 coins in the pocket the denim jeans he was wearing, dated from 1979 to 1996. 

20 years on, this is where the case stands today. Thank you so much for giving the Beaver County John Doe (April 13th, 2004) a moment of your day. 

Sources:

Unidentified Awareness Wiki

Doe Network

NamUs

Utah Department of Public Safety

Hello! I don't think this has been posted here yet but I thought I'd drop this link here. The body was found in the UK in 1990 however there is a strong belief that the man was American/Canadian.

https://locate.international/unidentified-people/wark-forest-man?fbclid=IwY2xjawIMocBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHezFQgw_ZtwcpAaIezcrfWIEb7GySK-B8r3CaEtNORj6P0q8qX7Rp_dgPQ_aem_m6N3GieEXlu_e1rhH8vJFQ

This has been circulated over a number of years in the UK however that may not be helpful if the man was a tourist which is highly likely. The place he was found was very rural and is a tourist destination for hadians wall.

I am extremely concerned about my friend, and I am reaching out to the Reddit brainchild for help.

TDLR: What are the first 10 things I need to do to start searching for him?

I have been friends with Bruce for 25 years. Typical biker looking guy. 510, long hair, long facial hair. About 280lbs. Objectively he can look scary if you didn't know him… But he is a gentle soul. (I am trying not to give 2 much information right now, because I don't want him doxxed, On the very minuscule chance I am wrong)

Has always been a little eccentric, but you know, you do you.

He lives alone, aside from a fish i got him. He has three long distance friends and one uncle that he speaks to regularly. Other than that, he is pretty recluse. No job. He essentially retired after Covid and his parents passed away and left him a little money. He owns a house and a car.

10 days before Christmas his uncle called for a wellness check on him. They baker acted him. I was the only person with permission to talk to the hospital about his condition. They put him on meds, and after two days said he was better and released him.

I was able to convince him to drive the four hours to my house to spend Christmas day and the following day with me and my family. He seemed like he was in decent shape. After that communication became spotty.

This past Sunday, he sent me some really weird text. I tried calling and texting with no reply. Finally, I called so many times repeatedly that he answered. He was crying so hard I could not make out what he was saying. I called the police for a wellness check. Explained the situation and how he was just released less than two weeks ago. They said they could not do anything and they left.

I haven't heard from him since.

He text his uncle on Wednesday and stated that he was in a hotel because he didn't feel safe in his house. that he might drive up to see his uncle, but was afraid of what might happen if he did that.... Because he felt like the police were after him.

No one has heard from him since Wednesday.

He is obviously going through a mental health issue.

WHAT ARE MY NEXT STEPS?

I think his uncle and I will report him as missing tomorrow.

I have a physical key to his house… But he also has alarms systems, so I don't think there's any way I can go into the house, without setting off the alarms.

Aside from calling every single hospital across three states… Is there any other way to find out if someone is hospitalized?

When his uncle and I report him missing, what should I be asking the police? Is there a way for them to broadcast his description and ask for a bolo?

I don't know what Phone subscriber he belongs to… Nor do I know of a specific credit card he uses so I can check for activity.

He hasn't posted anything on social media for a month, and he used to be very active

Please Reddit, any suggestions you can give me would be much appreciated right now. I am worried for my friend.

Thank you!

This John Doe (PM photo available on DoeNetwork) was found shortly after his death in Wilmington, CA and is speculated to be a victim of Randy Kraft. He was 17-25 years old and found nude and sodomized with a sock on the side of a road in February 1973 and has been unidentified ever since.

I tend to think about this case a lot and keep coming back to it. My belief is that if he was part of the LGBTQ+ community, he may have not been reported as missing. Upon looking through yearbooks from around that time in Wilmington, I found a person who I think looks remarkably like the doe. From the hair texture, presumed hair colour (yearbook is B&W), facial shape, where the ears fall next to the face, and even the turn in his nose. Unfortunately this person also has an incredibly common name, and I haven't found a report of him as a missing person or been able to find him online.

Is there anything that can be done with this information beyond continuing to try and track him down if still alive, just to confirm he is not the UID?

https://preview.redd.it/w9pkpkz068ge1.jpg?width=120&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57ff54beb8a664ea4ab9042a5856154a8835f4f1

And I thought yesterday was impressive when they publicly identified Rebecca Hill (Judy Doe) and Viktor Dickson (Detroit John Doe October 23 2001) within hours of each other. I think 2025 is going to be a good year for UIDs (as weird as that sentence probably sounds).

All of these cases were worked on by Othram and originally crowdfunded through DNASolves.

Link to story about Toussaint Gonsalves (October 2 1970 - December 1991: aged about 21): Stabbed to death and dumped in Boston Harbor. He worked as a cook at the time of his death. The perpetrators of his murder are unknown and law enforcement is currently investigating. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/man-identified-33-years-after-being-found-stabbed-to-death-in-boston-harbor/3618253/

Link to story about Stephen Jason Rosa (July 1970 - ????: aged about 53): Disappeared November 23, 2023 from Ridgeland, Mississippi. His family reported him missing soon after. Stephen had a health condition that may have affected his judgement and went in and out of homelessness. Parts of his skeleton were discovered in a pond in Flowood, MS on May 5, 2024. Cause of death unknown but being investigated as suspicious by law enforcement. https://www.wlbt.com/2025/01/30/flowood-police-identify-remains-found-last-may-ridgeland-man/

Link to story about James R. Wakkinen (January 1947 - May 6 1986: aged about 39): Accidentally died in a fire in Minneapolis, Minnesota which was started by a malfunctioning charcoal grill. Discovered in a burned-out abandoned boxcar by firefighters with another man who died in the fire that was identified in 1986. https://dnasolves.com/articles/james-wakkinen-minnesota/

Hello everyone, About a month ago, I made a post about Winnebago County John Doe (UP10696) being a potential match to Brad P. Olsen from DeKalb, IL. I submitted this match to the Doe Network and I finally heard back today.

Unfortunately, Brad was ruled out based on DNA. Brad’s DNA was collected at the time of his disappearance, and WCJD’s DNA has been collected as well.

Unfortunately, Brad’s disappearance was not solved today, and WCJD didn’t get his name back today, but this doesn’t mean they will never be solved.

Links: Brad: https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=5639dmil https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP2416 https://charleyproject.org/case/bradley-p-olsen

Winnebago County John Doe: https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/10696/details

In April 1984, the remains of a woman were found on a dirt road in the Ocala National Forest’s Lake Dorr Recreational Area in Altoona, Lake County, Florida. It was believed she died several weeks prior to her body being found. She was believed to be 17-20 years old, was about 100 pounds and 5’0 to 5’1 tall. Her death was believed to be homicide but wasn’t identified and was known as “Judy Doe”

Othram assisted in identifying the victim as Rebecca Sue Hill of Arkansas, who went missing in 1981 at the age of 16 or 17. Her family believed that a set of remains found in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1982 were those of Rebecca and therefore she was not listed in any missing persons databases.

https://dnasolves.com/articles/rebecca-sue-hill-florida/

On Tuesday, September 17th, 1996, PennDot (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) employees discovered the remains of an unidentified male partially wrapped in a multi-colored comforter about 20 ft to 25 ft north of Interstate 80 westbound in Dennison Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The head of the decedent's body pointed to the north and his feet to the south, which investigators believed indicated he had been dragged from the roadway to the location he was dumped. His legs had been bound with white nylon twine around the knees. Investigators believe the decedent may have been from New York or New Jersey.

The decedent was a Black male between the approximate ages of 30 and 50 years old. His height was 5 ft 10 (70 inches) and his weight was 185 lbs. The decedent had short black hair and brown eyes. The postmortem interval was between 5 days and 2 weeks, and the condition of the decedent's remains was described as “decomposed”. Toxicology reports revealed that in the decedent's system at the time of death was ethyl alcohol, lorazepam (ativan-benzodiazepine/anti-anxiety), morphine (conjugated and unconjugated-morphine, heroin and/or codeine or derivatives) and various other opiates. He may have used these substances recreationally. A possible scar, circular in shape, was noted just below and to the right of the umbilicus. The decedent's dental records are available, with only the dental codes entered into NCIC (National Crime Information Center). Investigators are attempting to locate dental radiographs and examination records. His fingerprints are available in AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System). The decedent's mtDNA and nucDNA are available at the University of North Texas.

When found, the decedent was wearing “Levi” brand blue jeans (size 36x34), a black two-hole leather belt, “Christopher Hayes” brand white cotton briefs (size 34), white tube socks and no shoes.

28 years on, this is where the case stands today. Thank you so much for giving the Luzerne County John Doe (1996) a moment of your day.

Sources: Unidentified Awareness Wiki NamUs Doe Network

DNASOLVES link: https://dnasolves.com/articles/yvonne-hollister-delaware

This is the first case in the state of Delaware where Othram helped to identify someone, which is exciting.

I was surprised by how accurate the clay bust reconstruction of her was. They captured the general shape of her face alongside the nose and cheeks very well. It just seems they depicted her a bit on the younger side of the 40-60 year age range.

Hollister was beaten to death and dumped in a forrest along Route 10 in the very confusingly named town of Wyoming, Delaware. Her murder is currently unsolved by identification is always a step in the right direction.

Wondering if this unidentified person has been ruled out for Charles Allen Jr (aka Neo B. Maximus)

Charles Allen Jr. went missing October 12, 2007 after some alarming calls and voice mails he left for family members. Mr. Allen was suffering from bipolar disorder. He had stopped taking his medicine for bipolar disorder several months before his disappearance. The messages he left his parents and the conversation he had with his sister are of note. He told them all he was being chased and needed to flee. His family seems to think he was still in touch with reality at this time. Due to my professional experience, it sounds like psychosis that occurs during mania.

Despite having several sightings in the area, he was never found. Reviewing NAMUS, I came across an unidentified victim found deceased in the Bronx, NY approximately 7 months after he went missing. Some of the possible sighting are of him near an 18 wheeler. He could have hitched his way to NY - it's 3 hours from where he went missing. Not much info on the gentleman found deceased. The hairline and eyebrows look similar to me.

Does anyone know if this person has been ruled out in Mr. Allen's case?

I am happy to announce that the DNA Doe Project has been able to identify Naylor Road John Doe 2020 as Darryl Terence Williamson. Below is some additional information about our work on this identification:

Five years after the body of a man was found inside a house in Washington, D.C., the DNA Doe Project has identified him as Darryl Terence Williamson. A D.C. native, Williamson was 59 years old at the time of his death.

On October 4, 2020, the body of an African American man was found inside of a home on Naylor Road in Washington, D.C. Authorities estimated he was 50 to 70 years old, approximately 5’4” tall and 160 pounds. The unidentified man was not a resident of the address, and he was unknown to both the homeowner and neighbors.

In 2022, the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner brought this case to the DNA Doe Project, whose expert investigative genetic genealogists volunteer their time to identify John and Jane Does. Unfortunately, the team assigned to this case soon ran into some of the obstacles that can make it difficult to identify African American Does.

“The closest DNA matches we had to work with were in the 3rd cousin range,” said co-team leader, Rebecca Somerhalder. “We rely on people uploading to GEDmatch, FamilyTreeDNA and DNA Justice in order to identify John and Jane Does, but African Americans are underrepresented in these databases.”

Despite this hurdle, the team discovered that the John Doe was likely a descendant of a couple who were both born in Maryland in the early 1800s. That couple were living in Prince George’s County, Maryland by 1870, just 15 miles from where their unidentified descendant would be found dead 150 years later.

Following this breakthrough, the team began tracking down the descendants of this couple. They were eventually able to hone in on a specific family and the medical examiner’s office then reached out to them. A conversation with a relative revealed that a member of the family, Darryl Williamson, had not been heard from for some time, and it became apparent that he had not been seen since before the John Doe was found.

It was later confirmed that Darryl Williamson was indeed the man known formerly as Naylor Road John Doe. DNA Doe Project volunteers spent thousands of hours on this case, working pro bono in an effort to restore this man’s identity to him.

“Our team was diligent in working through complicated records,” said Gwen Knapp, co-team leader. “I'm grateful to the D.C. medical examiner’s office for entrusting the DNA Doe Project with identifying Darryl Williamson, and we are happy to help give answers to his family.”

The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Genologue for DNA extraction and sequencing; Kevin Lord for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA for providing their databases; our generous donors who joined our mission and contributed to this case; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring all our Jane and John Does home.

https://dnadoeproject.org/case/naylor-road-john-doe-2020/

Trigger Warning: Suicide by firearm

NamUs page: https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/8584/details

Doe Network page: https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2582umor.html

Before I get into the main story I want to clarify that I have no idea who this could be. I simply found this historical case to be very interesting because of the material culture involved and how it relates to another very old mystery. This post is going to be very long and there are no pictures actually associated with the case so I've opted to use ones of similar items instead.

Discovery:

Date: May 10, 1986

Circumstances: Found by loggers off a forest road in the Tualatin Mountains near US Route 30 in Linnton, Oregon (now a neighborhood of Portland).

Condition: Entirely skeletonized. Missing hands and parts of the arms. Variously described as "mostly intact" or "extremely degraded" which is very confusing. Had been exposed above ground for some time.

Local news captured this image of police searching the area where the remains were found on May 10, 1986.

Characteristics

Since this John Doe was only a partial skeleton, there wasn't much to go off of. No reconstruction exists for him either.

• Male
• White
• Stood between 5'7 and 5'9
• Died between 1920-1955, 31-66 years before he was discovered (this is the first interesting detail of many). I personally narrow it down to 1920-1935 because of the Doe's belongings.
• Death ruled likely suicide

Belongings

This is the part where I had to do lots of original research. This man had many items in his possession which are distinctive and identifying. I'll start out with the more boring ones and then get to the most important ones at the end. I'll also be talking about what I think this man's personal affects can tell us about his life. Please note that no public photos show what these items look like and the ones I've provided are just similar or identical ones.

• Remains of leather hi-top shoes still on his feet. No distinctive marks or features. Some sources describe these as being vintage police loafers (which is just a style of shoe that would have been available to the public to purchase).
• Yellow metal-plated Sears & Roebuck pocket watch. The date of production and model are not specified. Likely made of brass as most Sears watches were. Sears was originally founded to sell pocket watches in 1886 so this item could be from any time between then and 1955. Tens of thousands of this watch were likely mass-produced and found throughout the US. No distinctive marks or features have been made publicly available.

Brass pocket watch sold by Sears & Roebuck in the early 1900s.

• Wire-rimmed eye glasses. These indicate that the man had vision issues. If the lenses survived, they could shed light on what those specific issues were.
• Rusted .38 caliber revolver. Believed to be the suicide weapon. Found near body but may have been unrelated and just happened to be in the same area at the same time in 1986.
• .32 caliber bullet found under the revolver's hammer. This is obviously way too small to have been fired from a normal .38 barrel. This could be a reporting error or misidentification by police. Many revolvers were made in .32 and .38 and investigators may have confused two similar gun models. Alternatively, the gun may have had handmade steps to fit a .32 cartridge in a .38 chamber. This suggests that John Doe was proficient with firearms enough to modify them or that he knew somebody who was.
• Silver-plated Wahl Eversharp mechanical pencil. This was made by a company in Chicago that existed from 1913-1957; it was the most popular brand of mechanical pencils in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The only silver-plated model from them I could find was the No. 32 Executive, which cost $5 in 1931. This is about $105 in today's money. This item suggests that John Doe was well-off enough to afford such a luxury item and that his job might have involved frequent contact with paper and pencil, such as when you are a writer or office worker.

A silver-plated Wahl Eversharp mechanical pencil with its original packaging.

• Various US coins. The oldest was an unspecified coin from 1881 and the newest was a 1919 Lincoln Head penny. He also had an 1888 Liberty Head nickel and an unspecified coin from 1896. The coins tell us that he was still active by at least 1919.
• Fraternal Order of Eagles pocket knife with F.O.E. insignia. The Fraternal Order of Eagles is a charitable organization from Seattle founded in 1898. It was originally for men who worked in theater and the performing arts. It supported various progressive causes such as women's rights and social security. In the early 1900s it had 200,000-350,000 members across the United States. They had a chapter in Portland and several other lodges in nearby cities. Cream-colored pocket knives of various designs were given away as membership gifts by different chapters across the nation and these always had the F.O.E. insignia on them with the Lodge # and Chapter Location underneath. This artifact tells us that John Doe was a likely current or former member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles (it may have been an heirloom or something he just found though). Being a member of this organization indicates that he worked in the arts. It also means he had likely left-leaning politics for his time and was possibly some kind of community leader as many FOE members were. Having a photo of the knife itself would be useful because knowing what chapter it was issued from could tell us where he was a member (and therefore where he lived). It could even yield a list of members from about 1920-1955 that could narrow down the search from literally everyone to a couple thousand people.

1930s-1940s FOE insignia pocket knife from Great Bend, Kansas with a yellow label. This kind of pocket knife was often given as a membership gift within the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

• Four brass trade tokens with "D" and "P" lettering. NamUs and other sources had no other information on these four items. They might seem weird to have and not helpful to the case, but with a little searching, I found what specific items these were. I am a coin collector in my spare time, so I knew how to identify these tokens using Numista, a database of nearly every piece of currency to ever exist including non-monetary exonumia (things that look like coins but aren't). After adding the token's characteristics into their search system, I found these two entries: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia190469.html & https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia391504.html These are tavern tokens from the Dahl & Penne saloon in PORTLAND, OREGON. Made of brass with D&P lettering. Dahl & Penne was a bar that existed from 1898-1983. It was originally for the city's working men but was sold and converted to a gay bar in 1962. It was very popular in the early 20th century because it was one of the only places in town with a gambling license. These tokens were awarded in card games and could be redeemed for free drinks. The two different sizes with the same design were likely used as different "denominations". The tokens were issued by the bar from 1913-1933 or from 1914-1946. They associate John Doe with a specific location, Dahl & Penne saloon (134 SW 2nd Ave and SW Morrison St, Portland, Oregon). The fact that he had multiple is evidence that he frequented the bar, engaged in gambling, and had recently won several games there (potential source of his wealth?). They also show that he was possibly working class or lower middle class and familiar with Portland and that he had been living or working there for some time as opposed to having been from a different part of Multnomah County.

Larger 22.30 mm diameter Dahl & Penne tavern token

Smaller 21.45 mm diameter Dahl & Penne tavern token

Since 1986 and Exclusions

Multnomah County John Doe has been kept at the Oregon State Medical Examiner's office in Clackamas since his discovery. His remains were forgotten about until 2004 when they were rediscovered by forensic anthropologist Nici Vance, who believed the were a good candidate for new DNA testing techniques. She was able to create a NamUs entry for John Doe and have a bone sample sent to the University of North Texas Health Science Center for analysis in 2011. A profile was created from this but the body still remains unidentified. Fingerprints are unavailable given that he was a skeleton with no hands, but his dentals are also unavailable despite the fact that his cranium and mandible were recovered.

In 2018, Marvin Alvin Clark (born 1852, disappeared from Linnton, Oregon on October 30, 1926, while trying to visit his daughter Sidney at her job in Portland), who had long been suspected by police and his family of being Multnomah County John Doe 1986, was ruled out after maternal great-grandchildren were discovered and had their DNA taken. Paternal relatives were contacted in 2014, but their DNA results were inconclusive (Clark and John Doe may have shared a very distant paternal relative but are now known to 100% not be the same man). Clark is still missing to this day and he is the oldest missing person in the US whose case is being actively pursued by law enforcement; he'd be 172 if he was still alive. He was thought to be this John Doe because he was also a white male who stood 5'8 and wore wire-rimmed glasses. His granddaughter claimed in 1986 that he was depressed about his declining health (Marvin was 75 years old. paralyzed on his right side, and suffered with worsening mobility and memory issues) and may have decided to go out on his own terms before his body "fell apart". However, he was 20 years above the estimated age range of John Doe. Marvin also was popular in his area and his family members, such as his wife and children, were all still alive; he had many commitments in his community which made suicide less likely for him. He was the former Town Marshall for Linnton, Oregon (where Multnomah John Doe 1986 was found) which was connected to the police loafer style shoes on the body. If you look into his case more, it seems like he was just an elderly person with worse cognitive issues than anyone close to him realized who wandered away from home and got lost.

Marvin Alvin Clark and his wife Mary in their old age.

Conclusion

This Doe has a lot going for his identification, like a DNA profile being on file and all of his distinctive personal affects. He also has a lot of things going against his identification, like how long ago he died and a lack of urgency (Multnomah County has several very recent unidentified persons including a couple homicide victims who are probably of higher priority than this 70-100 year old likely suicide). If everything the police concluded is true, then this man clearly suffered in life and I hope that he is now resting peacefully. I would like to see him identified some day soon, and he has a better shot than basically all the other cases from his time period. I think researching this case was an interesting look into what a person's material culture can tell us about how they lived even for people who were around "recently" and not during prehistory. It was hard to research the specific items he had due to a lack of images and I'm honestly now considering contacting the Oregon Medical Examiner's office to see if the Doe's belongings still exist in their care and if photographs or transcriptions of the text on them are available. I know the evidence in many cases like this one is lost, but if the body was kept in proper storage for 30+ years then I think there's a good chance that stuff they found with him is also being stored in a similar fashion. Feel free to share thoughts, questions, and even possible IDs in the replies!

First time posting here. Lurline was exactly one week older than me, so it piqued my interest! What do you guys think? Possible match?

Lurline Bergeron Lurline (5'5, 150 pounds) was last seen in West Palm Beach, Florida on July 1, 1991. She was a 14y11m habitual runaway at the time of her disappearance and often dated older Hispanic males, and investigators believe she left of her own accord. She has never been heard from again after her 1991 disappearance.

Lurline had short dark brown hair at the time of her disappearance. She may have been pregnant. Lurline’s mother and sister have submitted their DNA.

Lurline Bergeron: https://charleyproject.org/case/lurline-michelle-bergeron https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/5353

Could Lurline be “Maryland's Unknown Child”? A 15-29 female was found on July 31, 1991 under an overpass in Frederick County, Maryland. It is estimated she died 1-2 weeks prior. The body was found within 10 miles of a truck stop.

Body was decomposed but estimated to be between 5’0”-5’3”, 120lbs, 6” dark brown hair. Size 11 (juniors) shorts (these would be equivalent to size 8 in women’s so would fit a girl who weighed 150 but prob not 120). The victim was found without shoes or undergarments.

Maryland’s Unknown Child had a protruding and reversed left upper-front central incisor. I can only find one picture of Lurline (B&W) but she’s not smiling. However the 34yo re-creation of Lurline definitely shows something weird with her incisors.

I don’t know if they have DNA for Maryland’s Missing Child. I also don’t know if they would have been able to tell if she was pregnant.

Maryland’s Missing Child: https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/237ufmd.html https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/unidentified-persons/jane-

Hi there, So I am trying to find some cases where the body was found some time in the 60’s-early 2000s and are still unsolved to this day and no one knows who they are. Are there any pictures of people who are still unidentified to this day? I am trying to search but honestly I don’t really know how to. I tried fandom but they doesmt look like have any updates. I just want to see if there any still unindentifid to this day cases?

Thanks :)