Match! CO - Pagosa Springs, WhtMale 1282UMCO, 20-28, Oct'82 *Stewart Simmons*

[spamelope]

I wonder who left the flowers?

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13535401?source=searchles

(snip)
"Somebody killed these people and so far have gotten away with it," Barter said. "But I'm not done with it."
Recently, he went to an Albuquerque cemetery where the headless skeleton of "John Doe Co." is buried with about 40 other unidentified dead in a dusty corner section. His was the only one adorned with newly purchased synthetic flowers.
"It gave me chills," Barter said. "It was very odd."

Someone who feels a bit guilty?

 

[chemcopout]

it's really amazing what they can do to solve cold cases with the advancements they made with the dna and forensics they have now!

 

[Jesikah1]

So I am correct in understanding that they have not identified the victims? After reading the article i was left to believe that the ranch hand Miller may have been one of the bodies? These cold cases always leave me frustrated with how little information is left on them, but it seems like in this case there may be hope with forensics from the bus. Hopefully the other key players in the case will be traceable with information, i.e. Ms. Madrid and detectives of both states who worked on the case.

It would seem as though somebody close to the case was following it if they left flowers at the John Doe's grave site, especially considering that Albuquerque is not near the border where the bodies were found. I would not have thought that the body would have been taken there given the details in the article, so somebody would have had to have gotten this information from somebody close to the case in my opinion. I hope there is some follow up to this article, as these cases so often just drop off the radar after the initial reporting.

 

[Fairy1]

So I am correct in understanding that they have not identified the victims? After reading the article i was left to believe that the ranch hand Miller may have been one of the bodies? These cold cases always leave me frustrated with how little information is left on them, but it seems like in this case there may be hope with forensics from the bus. Hopefully the other key players in the case will be traceable with information, i.e. Ms. Madrid and detectives of both states who worked on the case.

It would seem as though somebody close to the case was following it if they left flowers at the John Doe's grave site, especially considering that Albuquerque is not near the border where the bodies were found. I would not have thought that the body would have been taken there given the details in the article, so somebody would have had to have gotten this information from somebody close to the case in my opinion. I hope there is some follow up to this article, as these cases so often just drop off the radar after the inital reporting.

I hope enough info comes out soon that we can post these victims in the UID forum. Wow - talk about dropped balls!

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

I put flowers on a local Jane Doe's grave from time to time, just out of sorrow that she wasn't identified. (She has since been identified). Maybe someone did it for the same reasons I did.

 

[doublestop]

An article with a bit more info:

http://www.pagosasun.com/archives/2009/07july/070209/pg1reopenmurdercase.html

And a link on websleuths to further discussion:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4285267

 

[Jesikah1]

Thank You Doublestop for the links, the info shared in them was very informative. The part about the Chavez brothers' speculating about drugs being a cause for the murders seem quite possible, at least for the man who got shot, but I am still concerned about no id for the victims. It seems unlikely that they were from that area, as no one has reported them missing, (that we know of at least), but you know somebody is wondering about their fate somewhere. I'd like to know what kind of operations were running drugs in the area around that time, large or small, local or transient that kind of thing.

I wish they'd described the flavor of what was going on in that area during that era, as it would make it easier to speculate what happened to these victims. And I have to mention the absurdity of a 15 year statute of limitations on murder prosecutions here, I am glad that is no longer in effect, but wow.

 

[spamelope]

Thanks for the links, doublestop! I should have known our sleuths were already hard at work on this. Rosie, that was sweet of you to do that for your Doe. From the other article, I gathered that there is a line of graves and nothing marking John Does' grave. It sounds like what we called Potter's Field back in Ill-where they bury the poor, unknown, etc. I'm just glad that there is new interest in the case, along with new technology, and that the culprits are caught. And wow, Jesikah, I had never heard of a state with a statute of limitations in any murder case. Glad that's changed.

 

[not_my_kids]

I got a callback from the det. that has the Ambrose case. He says he has dental records on Ambrose, they have dental records on the Doe, there should be no problem with comparison. He has not received a request for updated information that he can recall. He will make a request for dental comparison.
Now we wait.

 

[webrocket]

any word here?

neither Ambrose nor the UID are in Namus but Ambrose is still showing up as missing at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation website:

https://www.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=1162

 

[Donjeta]

The UID is still on Namus:
https://identifyus.org/cases/5327

No ruleouts listed.

 

[webrocket]

there is one rule out now:

Douglas Meer 1957 Colorado

 

[Treelights]

There are now three people that have been ruled out....
Douglas Meer, 1957, Colorado
Alexander Shaw, 1959, North Carolina
Shelda Yenter, 1965, Colorado

 

[moslym3]

I also took a look at Bryan Ambrose but the he had a gap in his front teeth that isn't evident on the UID dental xrays. But I'm no dentist.

Another one I would be curious to look at would be James Schroeder missing from Idaho a few weeks prior.

 

[CarlK90245]

The decedent has been identified as Stewart Eric Simmons of Georgia (LKA in San Diego)

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/simmons_stewart.html

http://www.pagosasun.com/victim-of-1982-homicide-identified/

 

[CarlK90245]

The decedent has been identified as Stewart Eric Simmons of Georgia (LKA in San Diego)

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/simmons_stewart.html

http://www.pagosasun.com/victim-of-1982-homicide-identified/

The Rio Arriba Jane Doe mentioned in the article fits perfectly to Margaret Ann Walden.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/walden_margaret.html

 

[grateful1]

So not sure if Margo has been identified or if she even has a thread here but look at this lady:
Nickname: Margo
She went on camping trip to CO w/an unknown sailor. Has to be her right?

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/walden_margaret.html

 

[meanmaryjean]

So not sure if Margo has been identified or if she even has a thread here but look at this lady:
Nickname: Margo
She went on camping trip to CO w/an unknown sailor. Has to be her right?

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/walden_margaret.html

This is so exciting!!!!

 

[grateful1]

Ha CarlK you beat me to it LOL

 

[Roselvr]

The decedent has been identified as Stewart Eric Simmons of Georgia (LKA in San Diego)

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/simmons_stewart.html

http://www.pagosasun.com/victim-of-1982-homicide-identified/

Huge article - Victim of 1982 homicide identified - Nearly 32 years after his murder, the male victim of a 1982 double homicide in Archuleta County was identified last week.
That male, who was previously dubbed Richard Miller, was positively identified Feb. 19 as Stewart Eric Simmons, 20 years old at the time of his disappearance....

...In July 2013, Barter, with the help of the New Mexico FBI, exhumed John Doe’s body from an Albuquerque cemetery with hopes of finding additional DNA to help identify the victim, though the DNA proved to not be needed thanks to the availability of dental records for Simmons...

...The lead into John Doe’s possibly being Simmons came to Barter through e-mail from an amateur sleuth, Barter explained.

The unidentified sleuth, Barter said, is part of a group of amateur sleuths who pore over websites filled with missing persons and cold cases, such as The Doe Network and NamUs (National Unidentified and Missing Persons System).

“I’ve spent literally hours and hours and hours in those databases,” Barter said, adding he believed the tip from the sleuth because other investigative work led him to believe the victim was in the Navy in California.

“I was jumping up and down, I know this is him, I know this is him,” Barter said. “I was just positive it was him.”....