CA CA - Butte Co., Hisp/AsianMale UP13008, 28-42, 1984 Olympics TShirt, Mar'98

[Migmuu]

UP#13008

DEMOGRAPHICS

Age: 28 - 42 years old
Race: Hispanic or Asian
Sex: Male
Height: 68 inches (5'8)
Body conditions: All parts recovered - near complete or complete skeleton
Postmortem interval: 1984 to 1997

CIRCUMSTANCES

Date: March 18, 1998
Location: McRae Road, Richvale, Butte County, CA
The victim's remains were located in an irrigation ditch by workers. The human remains are believed to be from a Hispanic or Asian male adult. The remains had been in this location for at least 1-2 years, but possibly longer. Note: Victim was wearing a 1984 L.A. Olympics t-shirt. There was evidence of blunt force trauma and foul play is believed to have been involved.

CLOTHING

White 1984 L.A Olympic Games t-shirt, long-sleeved button-up shirt from JC Penney's, fleece sweater
Heavily-worn blue tennis shoes with red eagle insignia and brand name "Masic"

IDENTIFIERS

Fingerprints: Not available
Dentals: Not available
DNA: Samples submitted - tests complete

 

[Migmuu]

Butte County entered a lot of new UIDs to NamUs in late October and this man was one of them.

IMO if this guy really did die in 1984, there's a good possibility he was a tourist from out of state (or maybe even out of the country) who came to Los Angeles for the Olympics. That would easily explain why he hasn't yet been identified.

There are a lot of PMs because of the wide postmortem interval (1984 - 1997) and I've only looked through a few so far. Rodolfo Araya looks reasonable. His age (32) is within range, ethnicity (Hispanic) matches, height is within an inch, and he disappeared in January 1984.

 

[Migmuu]

This guy looks like a really good PM:

Freddy Murguia
1. Age (28) is within range
2. Height (5'5 - 5'8) is within range
3. Race (Hispanic/Latino) matches
4. Timing fits the postmortem interval; he disappeared in 1986 (interval was 1984 - 1997, so fairly early)
5. Circumstances line up. He is a presumed homicide victim just like the UID
6. Clothing lines up very well. Murguia was last seen with in button-down shirt, a white t-shirt, and possibly sneakers. UID was wearing a button-down shirt, sneakers and (presumably) a white Olympics t-shirt. I think it was white because I went looking for 1984 Olympics shirts and I only found this one, which is mostly white

There's no mention of silver dental fillings on the UID but it doesn't mention anything about his teeth (and his dentals aren't even up yet).

 

[gayeld]

Butte County is almost 500 miles from L.A. County. That's a bit far for an Olympic tourist. Not impossible, by any means, but not the first place I'd look for someone who disappeared around L.A.

 

[Migmuu]

Butte County is almost 500 miles from L.A. County. That's a bit far for an Olympic tourist. Not impossible, by any means, but not the first place I'd look for someone who disappeared around L.A.

Oh wow, I didn't know it was that far away. For some reason I thought it was only something like 50 - 100 miles. That does make the tourism angle a lot less likely.

 

[Migmuu]

I think this is the shirt they're talking about?

I'll ask when I submit Freddy Murguia on Monday.

 

[carbuff]

Pretty sure Masic is a European brand of stylish/athletic shoe that was popular in the late 80's. But I'm having trouble finding information because Google keeps correcting my spelling to Magic or Music or Basic And most of what's left is badly translated from Chinese, which leads me to assume they're a popular brand for counterfeiters

 

[annemc2]

Could they simply be Asic shoes? Or maybe I was too busy spraying up my mall bangs to notice stylish European footwear...

 

[carbuff]

That's a possibility also. Wish they had a picture.

In either case, they'd most likely be hightops in the style of Air Jordans, which were introduced in 1984.

 

[carbuff]

Butte County is almost 500 miles from L.A. County. That's a bit far for an Olympic tourist. Not impossible, by any means, but not the first place I'd look for someone who disappeared around L.A.

It's quite a drive, but it's right up I-5: https://goo.gl/maps/9ItZk And I think even then, I-5 was one of the biggest drug routes in the country, wasn't it?

It would be the most direct route to the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, as well as a popular tourist route if they were continuing on from LA to visit other places.

 

[carbuff]

Still unidentified. No ruleouts listed. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/13008

He has DNA now. They've also added a number of photos, including a reconstruction.
https://identifyus.org/en/medias/show/34518

Picture of the remains of the shirt, and it's not the one Migmuu suggested earlier https://identifyus.org/en/medias/show/34516

Picture of remains of the shoe: https://identifyus.org/en/medias/show/34521

 

[Otterly]

Still unidentified. No ruleouts listed. https://identifyus.org/en/cases/13008

He has DNA now. They've also added a number of photos, including a reconstruction.
https://identifyus.org/en/medias/show/34518
Picture of the remains of the shirt, and it's not the one Migmuu suggested earlier https://identifyus.org/en/medias/show/34516

Picture of remains of the shoe: https://identifyus.org/en/medias/show/34521

The reconstruction makes me think more towards Asian instead of Hispanic.

 

[carbuff]

The reconstruction makes me think more towards Asian instead of Hispanic.

It's an area with a lot of Hispanic farm workers, so that might contribute to their estimate. As near as I can tell, the place he was found is surrounded by rice-growing areas.

 

[dotr]

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/13008

​

Category	Clothing
Caption	1984 LA Olympic game shirt

​

Category	Footwear
Caption	Deteriorated cloth part of shoe

​

 

[carbuff]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

I don't see anything new and there are no exclusions.

 

[Melt71]

Still no ruleouts - I hope they have DNA and this poor man wasn't cremated before any samples were taken.

 

[cenazoic]

Likely shirt attached.

There’s something about the logo on the heel of the shoe that seems familiar, but I can’t quite pull it out.

 

[heartanium]

Still no exclusions