IN IN - Greenwood, Male Skeletal UP1828, 14-30, sternum anomaly, Apr'93

[CarlK90245]

I submitted these two possibles to Detective Klinkowski:

Detective Klinkowski:

Given the new developments on this case, I am thinking that Joshua Mahaffey of Centralia IL might be worth a look.

Centralia is nearly a straight shot down I-70 from Greenwood, about 200 miles away.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mahaffey_joshua.html

Another less-likely possible is James Michael Baker of Florida.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/baker_james.html

The time-frame might be a bit tight, but he was hitchhiking across the country when he disappeared, so despite that his last contact was Florida, he could be just about anywhere

He replied with the following:

Thanks. I already beat you to the punch on one of them. : )
But I was completely unaware of the other one.

Thanks

Eric

 

[mtrooper]

I found this possible match on Doe Network but wanted to run it past you all before I considered submitting it. I tend to miss important details/info?

The unidentified woman was found in a farmers field about 50 yards off I65 in April 93. Approximately 1.5 years prior the farmers children had found a few human bones but their father thought they were from an animal. Once the second discovery was made the police did a search and found 70% of human skeleton. There is not a lot of info on the UID woman though ie no reconstruction or anything, no personal effects or clothing were found either.

Just thowing this out there....If the bones were found in 1993, and they said that kids had found BONES 1-1.5 years prior.. Couldn't the missing person be from late 80s? If the kids found BONES, makes me think the Doe has been there since like 88-90.

 

[CarlK90245]

Just thowing this out there....If the bones were found in 1993, and they said that kids had found BONES 1-1.5 years prior.. Couldn't the missing person be from late 80s? If the kids found BONES, makes me think the Doe has been there since like 88-90.

Yes, it does make sense to set your time frame back into the late 80's.

But if I look back to 1985, I still can't find anyone that short, aside from the two mentioned above.

BTW, I have 10,000 MP links (mostly Charley Project, but also some DoeNet, NamUs, and NAMPN cases) on a Excel spreadsheet, along with their heights, gender, ages, DOB, DLC, and hometowns. So unless I have someone's height incorrectly logged, I don't think I missed anything.

 

[mtrooper]

THis is the one that I thought of...Still a long shot.

http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/se...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

 

[CarlK90245]

Interesting possible. He was only 12 when he disappeared, but if you consider the possibility that he was held for a year or two, that would put him in the right age range, and probably the right height range.

 

[carbuff]

THis is the one that I thought of...Still a long shot.

http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/se...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

A long shot, yes, but I can't see anything to rule it out.

 

[CarlK90245]

I had to open a new thread because the previous one was closed due to the rule-out of the possible match originally proposed. The UID was origially thought to be female, but based on DNA testing was determined to be male.

The Doe Network:
Hot Case 1791 http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase1791.html
NamUs Case 1828 https://identifyus.org/cases/1828
(Note: as of the date of this post, the NamUs case file still incorrectly indicates that the remains were of a female (as previously believed), and was estimated to be 5 inches tall. The NamUs field for height is supposed to be expressed in inches, not feet.)

No Image Available

Unidentified White Male

* The victim was discovered on April 17, 1993 in Greenwood, Johnson County, Indiana
* Estimated Date of Death: 1 1/2-3 years prior
* Cause of Death: Foul play suspected
* State of Remains: Partial Skeleton - 70% recovered at the scene.

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 14-30 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 4'10"-5'3".
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Detectives found the sternum with two holes rather than the more common single hole. The trait is shared by only 5 percent of the population.
* Fingerprints: Not available
* Dentals: Available
* DNA: Available

Case History
A few bones were found by three boys while playing in a rear field at 1095 Vicksburg Drive in Greenwood, Indiana on April 17, 1993. The subdivision is about 300 to 400 yards west of I-65, and about a quarter-mile south of the Greenwood interchange.

What followed was a complete search of the farm field. Greenwood detectives worked shifts, digging dirt and looking for other bones. One bone was found here, another yards away.
Over the next month, detectives found about 150 bones - 70 percent of a human skeleton. The only whole bones were femurs. Many of the bones had cut marks. Detectives theorized that farming equipment plowing the field had cut the bones and moved them around. Detectives walked the field with metal detectors but couldn't find a purse, personal belongings or a weapon such as gun, knife or spent cartridges.

The lack of personal items heightened the theory that the victim died as a result of foul play.
Most of the bones were found about 50 yards off I-65, leading detectives to suspect he had been murdered and the body dumped in the field where corn and soybeans were grown.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
Detective Sgt. Eric Klinkowski
Greenwood Police Department
317-859-4484
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

Agency Case Number:
93-4071

NCIC Number:
U-648105051

 

[CarlK90245]

Joshua Jerome Mahaffey

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/...ey_joshua.html
Centralia IL is almost a straight shot up I-70 about 200 miles to Greenwood IN

According to Detective Klinkowski, Joshua Mahaffey was ruled out on DNA.

 

[CarlK90245]

I wonder if it is possible that the bones had been there since 1981 (i.e., for 12 years).

James W. Rogers is an interesting possible (1) because he was short-statured (5'2" to 5'3"), and (2) he was missing a pectoral muscle. The pectoral muscle attaches to the sternum. Could this condition be related to the two holes in the sternum?

James W. Rogers
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/rogers_james.html

 

[Cubby]

I moved over the few posts from the closed ruled out possible match thread started for this doe when the remains were originally believed to be those of a female- that should be moved here for the discussion on the male john doe. Due to the move they may read a little out of order since posts remain in date order.

I think I got all the appropriate posts moved here.

hth

Cubby

 

[carbuff]

I wonder if it is possible that the bones had been there since 1981 (i.e., for 12 years).

James W. Rogers is an interesting possible (1) because he was short-statured (5'2" to 5'3"), and (2) he was missing a pectoral muscle. The pectoral muscle attaches to the sternum. Could this condition be related to the two holes in the sternum?

James W. Rogers
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/rogers_james.html

Some poking around on medical websites didn't tell me much about holes in the sternum; it sounded like a person with that condition might not be aware of it unless they'd had a chest x-ray for another reason.

I did find out that absence of the pectoral muscle (pectoral aplasia) can be associated with deformities of the sternum, however, so this looks like a good prospect.

 

[CarlK90245]

I did find out that absence of the pectoral muscle (pectoral aplasia) can be associated with deformities of the sternum, however, so this looks like a good prospect.

Just logically speaking, if the holes in the sternum are such that the pectoral muscle is unable to attach, then it seems possible that pectoral aplasia may result from that.

I dropped off an e-mail to Det. Klink. Let's see whether he thinks it's worth a look.

 

[Lil'E]

I am guessing this wide discrepancy in estimated age is because none of the long bones were found? Epiphysial plates in children and adolescents are found in the long bones. Males usually stop growing between 17 and 21 years. Could this possibly be a small adult? If it were my case I would go back to that field and try to find the long bones and narrow the search down a bit more. That just my opinion only, and we all know what opinions are like...

 

[CarlK90245]

Agreed: They should be able to narrow the age range down more than that. Age ranges don't usually overlap the critical age of 18 - 23. Persons younger than that age range have much different skeletal and dental characteristics than people over that age range.

I suspect that when they found out that it was a male and not a female, they never called back their anthropologist to revise the age range. Instead, they arbitrarily lowered the minimum age due to the height.

 

[carbuff]

His bones might be genuinely ambiguous. It's rare, but premature calcification of the growth areas makes a person short. A guy I went to high school with had that condition. He was about 5'4" and was never going to grow any more. So it's possible his growth plates show adult but his teeth show teenager, or something like that.

 

[CarlK90245]

Just logically speaking, if the holes in the sternum are such that the pectoral muscle is unable to attach, then it seems possible that pectoral aplasia may result from that.

I dropped off an e-mail to Det. Klink. Let's see whether he thinks it's worth a look.

Det. Klink replied to my question of whether a 12-year postmortem interval would be possible (as opposed to the suggested time range of 1 1/2 to 3 years).

Quote:

"No. the presence of dried cartilage on some of the found long bones indicates the suggested time range."​

 

[webrocket]

I don't think the sternum abnormality means much as it was not likely to have been known to the deceased or his family.

adults of that height are very uncommon so he was probably on the younger side of the age range.

expanding out the time frame in the event the victim was kept by someone for a period of time, I did find Jacob Wetterling:

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/4026/6/

according to the reports, he and some other boys had been threatened at gunpoint and Jacob was abducted. he was from MN which while not close to Indiana, is still in the midwest. while there were many stories about a local man, Vernon Seitz, being involved in his disappearance, nothing was clearly established.

 

[Danaya]

Is there a list of rule outs? I don't see any on NAMUS, Carl do you have some? Also, the race is not determined, correct?

 

[CarlK90245]

Is there a list of rule outs? I don't see any on NAMUS, Carl do you have some? Also, the race is not determined, correct?

The only rule-out that I'm aware of is Joshua Jerome Mahaffey, and I believe the race is Caucasian (at least according to DoeNet and NamUs).

This UID was originally thought to be female, and it was only a few months ago that DNA testing proved otherwise.

 

[Danaya]

Ok, it says unidentified WHITE male, duh.