Identified! ID - Nez Perce Co., WhtMale 229UMID, 18-99, in Snake River, Jun'82 Dewayne Surls

[breachtones]

An image of Michael Coffin and the unaltered full photo of Dewayne Surls, taken from this reddit post.

 

[johnnyhands]

The Nez Perce County Sheriff, after "preliminary autopsy results," said he thought the unidentified man was dead before he hit the water. I would think a lack of water in the lungs would have been detected by then - which could be the basis for the Sheriff's conclusion. Since there was presumably a full, official autopsy performed, I'm guessing they knew for sure not long after the Sheriff's conclusion. Will the public ever know - will they ever say? Will there ever be a cold case murder investigation based on the new identification? No one in Idaho LE or Idaho press has given us any info in this regard.

Here's the aritcle I screenshotted from Idaho Cold Cases facebook collection where I got the Sheriff quote:

 

[MarziPanda]

I suppose this doesn't necessarily rule out that he died 'innocently' and then his body was shot at, but it does make that less likely. He could have died in the crash before he could drown - such as the force of the car hitting the water maybe leading to a death that might not show up on autopsy, like some kind of internal decapitation (neck vein severed by the force) later being covered up by the bullets. But if he truly didn't drown (I've read that can be harder to ascertain than we think) that does bring up more questions of what happened between him and Michael or the both of them and someone else. I see that Michael was found but not sure about the car. If there was a gun in the car or obvious bullet holes or a mechanical reason for the crash, that might be a good clue.

I do hope LE are asking these questions and aren't just closing the case now that he's identified.

 

[Snoopster]

Has the car ever been found?

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Has the car ever been found?

Not that I've seen.

 

[johnnyhands]

I suppose this doesn't necessarily rule out that he died 'innocently' and then his body was shot at, but it does make that less likely. He could have died in the crash before he could drown - such as the force of the car hitting the water maybe leading to a death that might not show up on autopsy, like some kind of internal decapitation (neck vein severed by the force) later being covered up by the bullets. But if he truly didn't drown (I've read that can be harder to ascertain than we think) that does bring up more questions of what happened between him and Michael or the both of them and someone else. I see that Michael was found but not sure about the car. If there was a gun in the car or obvious bullet holes or a mechanical reason for the crash, that might be a good clue.

I do hope LE are asking these questions and aren't just closing the case now that he's identified.

Is it too late to find out if anyone in either boys families or circle of friends knew if either one had access to that particular model of .38 Smith & Wesson handgun? There’s always hope. Will LE even bother to ask that question in 2024?

The gunshots are just one evidentiary trail that could have been followed in the crash case to unravel what happened - had the Nez Perce County investigators not been so quick to rule out Dewayne as the unidentified male in 1982. Were gunshot wounds part of the reason Dewayne was ruled out?

 

[summergirl1]

If there's anything left of the car it maybe findable with modern technology.

 

[LucyOso]

It seems like he was ruled out for some reason.

View attachment 530851

It is very possible the gun shot wounds and reports he was a "man" rather than a teen were what caused the rule out. And possibly the location. They were driving down 95, this is more in he middle of the panhandle, rather than the western state border along the Snake.

Two youths getting into a car crash into a notorious river during spring run-off would be reason enough to accept they died in a car crash. Many bodies are never recovered from car crashes, rafting accidents, or falls into these water ways.

Here’s an article I found that says the two youths “had been bound for Boise.” Now I want to know if the strong current was known to be going north, which would have been another clue to match the floating body in the Snake River found two days after this article was written.

View attachment 530873

Also, it looks like the articles that mentioned the Snake River near Riggins and Hwy 95 were wrong. It was the Salmon River. Which means Dewayne’s body had to be carried all the way up the Salmon River to where it meets the Snake, then up the Snake all the way up to near the Grande Rondo river. Were there some mountains in between? That current was really strong, apparently.

See below.

Also notable about this story is it’s dated June 24, 1982 - a whole ten days after the two youths disappearances - and it was still too dangerous to search the Salmon River. I wonder if was just as just as dangerous far upstream in the Snake River where Dewayne’s body was found.

1982 was a massive El Niño snow year in Idaho. Places in Central Idaho got over 3 feet of snow in April. Galena Summit had 15 foot high snow cliffs along the road way. Massive amounts of snow. Massive spring run off going into the Salmon, Payette, Big Wood all running into the Snake.

The Salmon is a massive waterway with some of the best White Water rafting in the Pacific Northwest. Highway 95 is one of the deadliest roads in Idaho and some surrounding states. It was definitely more primitive in 1982. With steep embankments and minimal guard rails, a crash is rarely survivable. June would have heavy, heavy mountain run-off, raising the river levels due to the snow melts. There are many accidents and misadventures in those rivers and generally if/when a vehicle is found in the waterway, bodies are no longer in the vehicle as windows aren't intact due to debris and current strength. It is generally accepted as unsurvivable.

The Lower Salmon does merge with the massive Snake River. Interestingly this flows North and Northwest up to Lewiston. So the body could end up near Heller Creek where it was found and pulled to shore near WA/ID border.

Is it too late to find out if anyone in either boys families or circle of friends knew if either one had access to that particular model of .38 Smith & Wesson handgun? There’s always hope. Will LE even bother to ask that question in 2024?

The gunshots are just one evidentiary trail that could have been followed in the crash case to unravel what happened - had the Nez Perce County investigators not been so quick to rule out Dewayne as the unidentified male in 1982. Were gunshot wounds part of the reason Dewayne was ruled out?

The accident could have been caused by someone taking "pot shots" at the car. Rural kids with a gun, screwing around. If they ever found the vehicle, there might be bullets in the body of the car. The windows would be long gone. Given how high, swift, and full of debris the rivers were that year, that little Datsun could have been crushed.

 

[johnnyhands]

If Dewayne really was "shot once in the left shoulder and once in the neck" as the Doe Network's page's Circumstances of Discovery section says, it's hard to imagine one person, or even two people, potshotting could have hit the same target so close together - especially if that person or persons were stationary while one assumes the car was moving at the time of the shots.

One or more persons in a separate vehicle moving along with youths' car seems to better explain the two wounds, as well as the seemingly hasty maneuver of steering the car off the highway. A hitchhiker in the car might also better explain the panic steering and the two shots (though you'd assume the hitchhiker was in the back seat and Dewayne was in the front seat passenger's side - so the angle of the shots would need to be explained.)

Of course, the gun already in the vehicle with no one other than Dewayne and Michael inside is also possible.

There's also the possibility Dewayne's corpse was shot at while it was floating in the river some time after the car accident - though the *two* shots would still need to be explained. Two shooters? One shooter hitting the corpse as it was approaching his position on the Snake River bank with the River tide traveling at 25 mph. A second shot as the corpse was carried quickly away from view? Doesn't seem all that likely. Could the autopsy documentation hold some key to determining if that was possible? I'm not sure how, but...

 

[ScorpioRising]

A missing Idaho teen was identified 42 years after police thought he died in a crash. But he was shot twice

Idaho investigators never connected the dots in 1982 that a body with two gunshot wounds pulled from the Snake River 24 miles south of Lewiston was that of missing Moscow teenager Dewayne Surls, who had disappeared two weeks earlier 105 miles upstream in the Salmon River near Riggins.

www.spokesman.com

 

[johnnyhands]

Thanks, ScorpioRising, for the link to this article that show some Pacific Northwest newspaper that shows some Pacific Northwest paper is covering this story. The article is dated today, Oct. 8 2024, a few weeks after the Othram press release, but I am thankful for it.

It says, "boaters found the decomposed body of what was believed to be an 18- to 22 -year-old on a small island on the Snake River 25 miles south of Lewiston." So my previous post thinking that the body had to be moving with the river current when it was shot at that very spot for target practice (if, indeed, it was shot some time after the crash), is not necessarily true. My bad.

And the Nez Perce County Sheriff is responding to the questions about the open case as a possible homicide.

And this important note: "The family has told Nez Perce County that since the discovery and notification of their loved one, they would like privacy at this time, (Nez Perce County's Sheriff Office Lt. Jason) Leavitt said."

 

[LucyOso]

If Dewayne really was "shot once in the left shoulder and once in the neck" as the Doe Network's page's Circumstances of Discovery section says, it's hard to imagine one person, or even two people, potshotting could have hit the same target so close together - especially if that person or persons were stationary while one assumes the car was moving at the time of the shots.

One or more persons in a separate vehicle moving along with youths' car seems to better explain the two wounds, as well as the seemingly hasty maneuver of steering the car off the highway. A hitchhiker in the car might also better explain the panic steering and the two shots (though you'd assume the hitchhiker was in the back seat and Dewayne was in the front seat passenger's side - so the angle of the shots would need to be explained.)

Of course, the gun already in the vehicle with no one other than Dewayne and Michael inside is also possible.

There's also the possibility Dewayne's corpse was shot at while it was floating in the river some time after the car accident - though the *two* shots would still need to be explained. Two shooters? One shooter hitting the corpse as it was approaching his position on the Snake River bank with the River tide traveling at 25 mph. A second shot as the corpse was carried quickly away from view? Doesn't seem all that likely. Could the autopsy documentation hold some key to determining if that was possible? I'm not sure how, but...

I agree. The information that is missing ia at what range was he shot? Close, as in the vehicle or from a distance. Which way did the bullets go in? Through the front and side window? From the back. That is definitely info we are lacking. Did they slow down because the road was blocked or to assist a motorist? Then were shot and ambushed. We have no idea how fast they were going either so two shots might no be unreasonable considering many parts of that road are 25-30 MPH depending. It still is that way now in some places.

I would imagine if the driver was also shot, unless he also had major trauma from an accident, it would have been noted when his body was recovered? Gun shot wounds typically dont present like a traumatic injury. The water was pretty cold, so I would imagine decomposition was slowed down to a point.

Again, lots of missing information, so difficult to figure out what occurred.

 

[Friday Fan]

The Nez Perce County Sheriff, after "preliminary autopsy results," said he thought the unidentified man was dead before he hit the water. I would think a lack of water in the lungs would have been detected by then - which could be the basis for the Sheriff's conclusion. Since there was presumably a full, official autopsy performed, I'm guessing they knew for sure not long after the Sheriff's conclusion. Will the public ever know - will they ever say? Will there ever be a cold case murder investigation based on the new identification? No one in Idaho LE or Idaho press has given us any info in this regard.

Here's the aritcle I screenshotted from Idaho Cold Cases facebook collection where I got the Sheriff quote:

View attachment 531448

It sounds like he didn't drown. COD Homicide by gunshot wound according to Doe Network. 229UMID

Maybe his friend was also shot, but it wasn't noticed because his friend drowned.

I really don't think his friend shot him.

As to why they were victims, who knows? Did they have enemies?
Was their car pushed over the cliff?

 

[johnnyhands]

My inclination and wild-*advertiser censored* guess, given the two gunshots, is that some kind of road rage thing happened, and the shots were fired from a car running along side (I agree, I have trouble with thinking one youth shot the other in the car, unless it was an accident - but why two shots? A ricochet have been pondered in this thread. Don’t know.) The car seems like it had to have been moving along with the youths’ car to hit Dewayne twice with two shots.

If it was a second vehicle, that would likely mean the other car pulled into the opposite lane on the driver’s side and some one in the passenger’s seat likely fired and missed the driver and hit, what I assume, was the passenger, young Dewayne. Hard to imagine the driver shooting and hitting twice while also driving. Perhaps it was Michael bending to get out of the way of the shots from his left (the first shot surprised them both and the second shot happened quick enough before Michael could react fully - but maybe his contorting in his seat to avoid getting hit by a third shot - that may or may not have ever happened, is what caused the crash?)

All this without knowing much at all. Was the spot where the blue car paint scraped the rock at a bend in the road - where a distracted (panicked) driver could have more easily failed to negotiate the turn? I have no idea was “north of Riggins” means exactly , so I don’t know where to look at on a satellite view on a map? But we know there residents close enough to hear the plunge of the car.

Even more important: where were the bullet entrance and exit wounds - can the authorities in 2024 tell from the autopsy documentation of 1982? Need to know that much at least, to make any educated guess, really.

I’m hoping whichever county has jurisdiction can come up with a coherent theory based on the information only they have (is it now Idaho County's jurisdiction given the blue paint on the rocks where the crash occurred is in their county?)

I can have a weak hunch but that’s all, because we know so very little.

 

[johnnyhands]

EDIT of what I asked about above:

" (is it now Idaho County's jurisdiction given the blue paint on the rocks where the crash occurred is in their county?)"

I'm going to now guess no, because the body was found in Nez Perce County and jurisdictionally speaking, they have no absolute proof Dewayne ever even made it to Idaho County or was in that car that crashed - though it's extremely likely he was. Still Nez Perce recovered the body and has the jurisdiction over the murder case, if it indeed was murder- unless someone knows different.

 

[summergirl1]

I looked up "US 95 north of Riggins", and found these two articles showing present day pictures of the road (the first article says it is north of Riggins) and rocks:

US-95 delays near Riggins for rockfall safety

RIGGINS — Work is underway north of Riggins to prevent rocks from falling onto U.S. Highway 95. Motorists can expect delays, and the project is anticipated to finish in November.

www.idahocountyfreepress.com

And: Construction near Riggins to prevent rocks from falling onto US-95

This gives an idea of the terrain.

 

[summergirl1]

EDIT of what I asked about above:

" (is it now Idaho County's jurisdiction given the blue paint on the rocks where the crash occurred is in their county?)"

I'm going to now guess no, because the body was found in Nez Perce County and jurisdictionally speaking, they have no absolute proof Dewayne ever even made it to Idaho County or was in that car that crashed - though it's extremely likely he was. Still Nez Perce recovered the body and has the jurisdiction over the murder case, if it indeed was murder- unless someone knows different.

This article says the bulk of the investigation has been handed to Idaho County- A missing Idaho teen was identified 42 years after police thought he died in a crash. But he was shot twice

 

[Friday Fan]

I looked up "US 95 north of Riggins", and found these two articles showing present day pictures of the road (the first article says it is north of Riggins) and rocks:

US-95 delays near Riggins for rockfall safety

RIGGINS — Work is underway north of Riggins to prevent rocks from falling onto U.S. Highway 95. Motorists can expect delays, and the project is anticipated to finish in November.

www.idahocountyfreepress.com

And: Construction near Riggins to prevent rocks from falling onto US-95

This gives an idea of the terrain.

The road runs parallel to the river for quite some distance, north and south of the bridge.

 

[johnnyhands]

Thanks for that correction. Here’s the paragraph from the article - that I read, but missed this part somehow:

"While Nez Perce County took the original “Snake River John Doe” report in 1982, the bulk of the investigation has since been handed over to the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office because of the jurisdiction of the crash, which could also be where the shooting took place."

 

[summergirl1]

Here is a modern day case where the woman's body was found in her car underwater near the crash site. Obviously the water was not as high this year. Body of missing Idaho woman found in her vehicle in Salmon River after U.S. 95 crash - East Idaho News