Identified! CO - Whitewater, UP64014, WhtMale or HispMale, adult, 4 Oct 2011 - Michael John Alonzi

[Melt71]

Added to Namus on 5 January 2020 www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/64014

(No photos in Namus but the media photos I will include below show what appears to be modern dental work)

Sex - Male
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian, Hispanic / Latino
Estimated Age Group - Adult
Date Body Found - October 4, 2011
Location - Whitewater, Colorado 81527
County - Mesa County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)Latitude 38.71991 x Longitude 108.640893,

Details of Recovery

Condition of Remains - Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton​

Circumstances of Recovery - University instructor and students found the skull while doing field work in Rural Mesa County near the area of Umcompaghre Plateau, 1.5 to 2 miles south of Big Creek Road and Divide Road.

www.nbc11news.com/home/headlines/CMU_students_find_human_skull_in_Uncompahgre_Wilderness_134424748.html

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KKCO) - A group of CMU students made an interesting find while in the Uncompahgre Wilderness.
According to the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, the students found the skull on October 4. Additional human bones were discovered October 25 in the same area.
The Mesa County Sheriff's Office is working with the Mesa County Coroner to determine cause, manner of death, and identity.
The bones have been sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for further analysis. The CBI will enter the information into a national database to try to find a match to open cases.
Mesa County investigators say the bones are not related to any missing person cases in the county.

 

[Melt71]

*** warning at the end of this article are pictures of the skull/mandible ***

Human skull found on Uncompahgre Plateau

MESA COUNTY — It could be several months before a human skull found on the Uncompahgre Plateau is processed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and it could be even longer before it’s identified, according to law enforcement officials.

Environmental science majors with Colorado Mesa University stumbled across the bones during a fire management field project on the plateau just a few hundred yards off of Divide Road in early October.

The students were collecting data on forest structure and fuel loads within about a 65- by 164-foot plot on Oct. 4, when they found a skull covered by small brush and grass.
If the boundary hadn’t been placed in that particular spot, students probably wouldn’t have found the remains, associate professor Deborah Kennard said.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

John Doe​

Case Details​

Case Type: Unidentified
Height: Unknown
Case Status: OPEN
Weight: Unknown
Aliases:
Identifying Marks:
Incident Date: 10/04/2011
Occupation:
Agency: Mesa County Sheriff's Office
City: Whitewater
Date of Birth: Unknown
County: Mesa
Date of Death: Unknown
Agency Case #: C19-787
Age: Unknown
Judicial District: 21st Judicial District
Gender: Male
Year Solved:
Race: Caucasian
NamUs Case #: UP64014
Eyes: Unknown
NCMEC Case #: Unknown
Hair: Unknown

About this Case:​

On October 4, 2011 a university instructor and students found a human skull while doing field work in Rural Mesa County near the area of Umcompaghre Plateau, 1.5 to 2 miles south of Big Creek Road and Divide Road. Anyone with more information about this case is encouraged to contact the Mesa County Sheriff's Office.

If you have any information about this case, please contact:​

Mesa County Sheriff's Office

Grand Junction

Colorado

Colorado Cold Case Files - Case Detail: John Doe

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Now it's a case of Othram:

Mesa County John Doe (2011) is now Identified

Mesa County Coroner's Office and Othram Partner to Identify 2011 John Doe

dnasolves.com

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Would love to see a reconstruction for this case.

 

[Hochman]

His chin looks somewhat square and slightly protruding. He may have had a strong jawline.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Mesa County John Doe (2011) is now Identified

Mesa County Coroner's Office and Othram Partner to Identify 2011 John Doe

dnasolves.com

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Identity remains a mystery

The Mesa County Coroner's Office is attempting to identify a John Doe whose remains were found near Whitewater in 2011.

www.gjsentinel.com

 

[moslym3]

Mesa County John Doe (2011) is now Identified

Mesa County Coroner's Office and Othram Partner to Identify 2011 John Doe

dnasolves.com

I just have to say that it is so amazing to have an organization like this helping solve these mysteries. It's so incredibly satisfying to be able to help financially (if you are able). I love checking out the different cases they are working on and dropping little donations here and there when I can. Every one of these cases just needs funding and they can be solved. Crazy when you think about it.

 

[Caring1]

Funding complete.

Looking forward to hearing from Othram.

 

[othram]

Funding complete.

Looking forward to hearing from Othram.

Incredible! We are grateful for everyone's support on this and every other case. Amazing when you think about it... in most of these cases, its just funding that stands in the way of a solve.

 

[othram]

Funding complete.

Looking forward to hearing from Othram.

SOLVED: Mesa County John Doe (2011) is now Identified.

Only because because people chipped in to fund it. Grateful to all of you.

 

[MarziPanda]

What a handsome young man he was. RIP Michael.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Using the leads, Mesa County Coroner's Office investigators reached out to a potential family and eventually confirmed that the unknown man was in fact Michael John Alonzi, born December 10, 1961. The circumstances surrounding Alonzi's death are unclear and an investigation continues.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Looks like he was local to the area.

 

[othram]

View attachment 454989
Looks like he was local to the area.

He was local, however with the partial remains recovered and no clues at the scene, there was no way to connect the dots in this investigation without DNA testing.

 

[cheemsg]

The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado - Newspapers.com
I'm not sure if this is about him but a Michael Alonzi from Colorado whose age lines up was arrested in 1998 for violating a restraining order that forbid him from contacting his mother.

 

[summergirl1]

I wonder how long his remains had been there. Apparently, he may have been alive in 2005 according to Ancestry. But those kinds of records can be inaccurate by years, sometimes. I don't see any estimate on how long his remains had been there, even before he was identified, and usually there is, although obviously there weren't a lot of remains from him to go on.