Identified! MI - Saginaw Co, Remains w/ Boots in Woods off Chapin Rd, Sep'18 - Xin Rong

[PastTense]

"SAGINAW (WJRT) (8/29/2019) - New theories and photos could crack the mystery of whose bones were found in Saginaw County last year. Police are working on a fresh tip on the identity of the man whose remains were found in a wooded area last September.

Investigators are exploring a number of options when it comes to how the man died. A Michigan State University anthropologist believes this person died from blunt force trauma. The bones were so badly fractured, one possibility is the person fell from an airplane.

"We know they died a terrible death, we just want to know who it is," says Saginaw County Sheriff Bill Federspiel."
Photos of clothing released in Saginaw County human remains mystery

 

[Akweks]

Those photos might be a big help.

 

[Akweks]

Interesting the Sheriff mentioned falling out of a plane. Xin Rong, a student at U of M rented a plane in Ann Arbor which later crashed in Canada. It was on autopilot and out of fuel. No sign of Xin. The flight line pretty much leads over the area.

 

[drama_farmer]

Interesting the Sheriff mentioned falling out of a plane. Xin Rong, a student at U of M rented a plane in Ann Arbor which later crashed in Canada. It was on autopilot and out of fuel. No sign of Xin. The flight line pretty much leads over the area.

You should call it in. That article mentioned a different person who may have fallen from a plane. You never know

 

[KJ's Mamu]

Here is a link to the NamUs file for Xin Rong: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

On the day he disappeared he was wearing a dark green jacket and (BBM) dark winter boots - leather. The coat in the pictures could be dark green.....and the boots look like leather....

 

[Gardener1850]

Interesting the Sheriff mentioned falling out of a plane. Xin Rong, a student at U of M rented a plane in Ann Arbor which later crashed in Canada. It was on autopilot and out of fuel. No sign of Xin. The flight line pretty much leads over the area.

Here is a link to the NamUs file for Xin Rong: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

On the day he disappeared he was wearing a dark green jacket and (BBM) dark winter boots - leather. The coat in the pictures could be dark green.....and the boots look like leather....

Xin Rong's Thread: Deceased/Not Found - MI - Xin Rong, 27, Ann Arbor, 15 March 2017

ETA map for reference: Google Maps

Xin Rong rented the plane in Ann Arbor, filed a flight plan for Harbor Springs and the plane was found crashed in Marathon, ON. The second point is location of the UID remains which is right along his projected flight path. If he left the plane on autopilot when he bailed it could have continued to fly on course until it ran out of fuel. MOO.

 

[YaYa_521]

And? Where's Paul Harvey?!? I wanna know the rest of the story.

Has he been identified? Did anyone submit Mr. Rong? This is interesting.

 

[bombardier]

And? Where's Paul Harvey?!? I wanna know the rest of the story.

Has he been identified? Did anyone submit Mr. Rong? This is interesting.

agreed! there can't be a ton of people who fall out of planes and receive full-body trauma... Mr. Rong does seem like a good guess! I know the ethnicity is off but identifying ethnicity from skeletonized remains isn't a science that's 100% on the money every time. @Akweks or @Gardener1850 , did either of you ever submit Xin Rong as a potential ID?

 

[Akweks]

I did and I think Sheriff Federspiel eluded to that possibility during one of his interviews. He mentioned the person could have fallen from a plane. Hopefully he’ll keep us informed when the resting comes back.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Following. What a sad case. It does sound like he'll be ID'd this year- unless XR has since been ruled-out?

 

[YaYa_521]

Photos of clothing released in Saginaw County human remains mystery

RSBM
Clothing on and near the bones were found.

• Black Skecher boots
• a Calvin Klein belt with a 32 inch waist
• a Boston Traders sweater

Photo from article:

Photos from video:

shirt1

label1

tag1

Boots & belt below

 

[YaYa_521]

boot1

boot2

belt1

belt2

belt3

 

[carbuff]

Those look like some pretty serious winter boots.

 

[bombardier]

his clothes (especially his boots) are in really good condition! they look better than my faithful pair of winter boots does LE still think that this guy has a PMI between 1-5 years?
The 2019 ABC12 article also mentioned that LE was working "on a fresh tip", and the bones were at a DNA testing facility. The article suggested Eric Franks and Aaron Idle. It's now been a year and a half and this guy doesn't have any publicly listed rule-outs. Hopefully things are going on behind the scenes!

 

[carbuff]

Sounds like Erik Franks can be ruled out:

Eric Franks has been missing since 2011 and one theory investigators in that case looked at is that his body was disposed of by being dropped in a remote area from a small airplane. But these remains included teeth, while Franks had dentures.

Photos of clothing released in Saginaw County human remains mystery

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

It WAS Xin Rong!! Confirmed!

Saginaw County Sheriff's Office Partners with Othram to Identify 2018 John Doe
The unknown man is now known to be 27-year-old Mr. Xin Rong, a PhD student at University of Michigan

After 3 years, Saginaw John Doe (2018) is now Identified

 

[victoriarobinson642]

"SAGINAW (WJRT) (8/29/2019)
Investigators are exploring a number of options when it comes to how the man died. A Michigan State University anthropologist believes this person died from blunt force trauma. The bones were so badly fractured, one possibility is the person fell from an airplane.

"We know they died a terrible death, we just want to know who it is," says Saginaw County Sheriff Bill Federspiel."
Photos of clothing released in Saginaw County human remains a mystery

Now knowing that it's Xin Rong, this makes more sense. I guess he jumped out of his plane, though I wonder how the plane made it to Canada.

 

[othram]

Now knowing that it's Xin Rong, this makes more sense. I guess he jumped out of his plane, though I wonder how the plane made it to Canada.

Autopilot.

 

[JurassicParker]

I'm glad he was finally identified. Good job folks.

 

[dotr]

MLive.com
ttps://dnasolves.com/articles/saginaw_county_john_doe_2018/
''Saginaw County Sheriff's Office Partners with Othram to Identify 2018 John Doe
The unknown man is now known to be 27-year-old Mr. Xin Rong, a PhD student at University of Michigan''
''Summary

In September 2018, the owner of a wooded piece of land in Chapin Township, MI, was checking game cameras and discovered the remains of an unidentified man. The unidentified man had been fully skeletonized by the time he was discovered, suggesting a time of death at around 1-5 years prior to discovery. An autopsy confirmed that the cause of death was severe blunt force trauma. The state of decomposition made it difficult to confirm the man's physical attributes, but pathologists were able to determine that the man was likely an adult male between the ages of 25 and 55, who stood at around 5’10 feet tall. There was no definitive assessment of biogeographical ancestry. The unknown man was fully clothed and had black Sketchers work boots, a 32-inch Calvin Klein belt, and a Boston Trader’s sweatshirt.

Forensic anthropologists and police investigators believe the man's death could be a homicide. Many of his bones were broken, consistent with the unknown man being severely beaten, hit by a vehicle, or falling from a high point. Investigators are hopeful that identifying this man may lead to answers surrounding his mysterious death. Investigators exhausted all available leads, including DNA testing through CODIS.

In 2021, Det. / Sgt. Simons from the Saginaw County Sheriff's Office was referred to Othram Inc. Sgt. Simons engaged Othram and skeletal remains were sent to Othram's lab. The lab used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive genealogical profile. From genealogical search, based on the profile, Othram scientists gave Sgt. Simons information that updated the biogeographical ancestry of the unknown man to East Asian. Sgt. Simons took this information and along with Det. North searched for open cases involving missing Asian males in the state of Michigan during the time frame established earlier. A person of interest was developed: Xin Rong, a 27-year-old, Asian male, PHD student of University of Michigan, who was reported missing in 2017.

University of Michigan police were contacted, and the Xin Rong case was discussed and dental records were sent to Dr. Hefner for comparison. Dr. Hefner was able to make a positive identification, confirming that the remains belong to Mr. Xin Rong.''