Found Deceased NC - Douglas Simmons, 20, Raleigh, 10 July 1990

DNA Solves
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Age progression included in the Charley Project listing:

LINK HERE

Google Archive News (thank you Satch)

LINK HERE

Thanks everyone!

I always thought that the witness who claimed to have seen the disoriented man in New Jersey about a week after Doug vanished could have really been Doug. The article from the Google News archive says the witness was able to identify Doug from a photo line-up of the man she saw. The "Mystery Man" it is claimed:

  • Could not remember his name.
    [*]Thought he may have been hit in the head.
    [*]Thought he was from Florida.
    [*]Was very disoriented.

Could Doug have been mugged on the way to his car? How long would it take to drive from North Carolina to New Jersey where the witness claimed to have seen this man? If the UID man was Doug, how did he escape without being killed or seriously injured? I wonder if the witness in New Jersey went to LE, and was able to describe or remember more details about the man this person saw. However, if the witness could pick Doug out from a photo and given the isolated circumstances of what is known above, I would say 50% that was Doug. Too much there IMO to be coincidental.

Satch
 
Thanks everyone!

I always thought that the witness who claimed to have seen the disoriented man in New Jersey about a week after Doug vanished could have really been Doug. The article from the Google News archive says the witness was able to identify Doug from a photo line-up of the man she saw. The "Mystery Man" it is claimed:

  • Could not remember his name.
    [*]Thought he may have been hit in the head.
    [*]Thought he was from Florida.
    [*]Was very disoriented.

Could Doug have been mugged on the way to his car? How long would it take to drive from North Carolina to New Jersey where the witness claimed to have seen this man? If the UID man was Doug, how did he escape without being killed or seriously injured? I wonder if the witness in New Jersey went to LE, and was able to describe or remember more details about the man this person saw. However, if the witness could pick Doug out from a photo and given the isolated circumstances of what is known above, I would say 50% that was Doug. Too much there IMO to be coincidental.

Satch

If that UID person was Doug found in New Jersey by the witness, the distance from North Carolina to New Jersey is about 7 and a Half hours:

Source: Google Maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/vt/data...ura_v80J_UdhvlZ-34z5IAfcwJbOCvfwE&h=258&w=257

Google: Distance Calcuation:

North Carolina

7 hours 42 mins
New Jersey

476.3 m

Satch
 
Circa 2011, age progression pic to age 41.

simmons_douglas_ap.jpg
 
Today is the 23rd anniversary of Douglas Simmons disappearance. I am from NC and remember this case when it was first reported. I wish with all my heart that his family could find out what happened and get some closure.
 
The google link says Hopatchong, NJ but I didn't find it. I did find a Hopatcong, NJ and about 40 miles away in Hackensack (along rt 80 from Hopatcong) they found this guy in 2008:

http://www.njsp.org/miss/ui_bergen_u930022424.html

BERGEN COUNTY
Unidentified Deceased Male
CASE INFORMATION
The unidentified male was recovered on October 1, 2008 in Hackensack, NJ.

NIC#
U930022424


Case Number
2008-31052

Date Body Found
October 1, 2008

Estimated Date of Death
Unknown

BIOLOGICAL PROFILE

Estimated Year of Birth
1972-1989

Sex
Male

Race
White

Height
Unknown

Weight
Unknown


Hair
Unknown

Eyes
Unknown

CLOTHING
Unknown

SCARS/MARKS/Tattoos
Unknown

Misc
Dental characteristics are available for comparison and are charted in NCIC.

I don't see that doe on doenetwork or namus.
 
https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/rec.music.gdead/n3gfmG5zCG8



WAKE, FLA. OFFICIALS SEEK MISSING FAN OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD
The Raleigh, North Carolina _News and Observer_, Tuesday, July 17, 1990


The Wake County Sheriff's Department is investigating the
disappearance of a Florida man who came to Raleigh last week to see
the Grateful Dead perform and has not been heard from since.

Douglas Stephen Simmons, 20, of Pensacola, Fla., last was seen
just before the Dead's concert at Carter-Finley Stadium July 10.

Local law enforcement officials have no leads on Mr. Simmons'
whereabouts and are waiting on the results of interviews that police
in Pensacola are conducting with the three friends with whom he
traveled to North Carolina, said Lt. Kelvin Smith of the Wake County
Sheriff's Department.

Mr. Simmons left his home in Pensacola July 9 with his friends
to head to Raleigh for the concert, said his father, Bobby W. Simmons,
who has come to Raleigh to look for his son.

The friends last saw Douglas Simmons walking toward the woods
beside Carter-Finley's parking lot about 7 p.m., just as the Grateful
Dead were taking the stage, police said. The friends thought he was
going back to the car to retrieve something, Bobby Simmons said.

Bobby Simmons said his son's friends had called him after the
concert, about midnight, and said they could not find him.

The father and Lt. Smith said it was possible that he was simply
following the band on its summer tour and had neglected to let
anyone know. After leaving Raleigh, the Dead traveled to Washington
and Foxboro, Mass. Sunday and Monday nights [sic], they played in
Buffalo, and the band will finish their tour with stops in Indiana-
polis and Chicago.

But Barbara J. Kersey, an investigator with the Escambia County
Sheriff's Department in Pensacola, discounted the theory that Mr.
Simmons was traveling with the band, citing "the circumstances of
just disappearing without telling his friends."

Ms. Kersey, who interviewed one of the missing man's traveling
companions Monday morning and was still trying to contact the other
two, said: "He could have come up to them and said 'I'm going to
travel with the group. Call my folks.' But there was nothing."

"Right now, I consider the young man in danger," she said.

Douglas Simmons, who just finished his freshman year at the
University of Western Florida in Pensacola, is white and has dark
brown hair and blue eyes. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs
 
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2651

This one is curious. It is listed as a white male but has females as rule outs. The reservoir is only about 35 miles away from Raleigh.

The listed clothing is wrong but they only found a skull so maybe the clothes are unrelated.

It says DNA Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete - so the sex of the skull should not be an issue.
 
Apearn, your last 2 posts link the same case#. I feel like it must be weighing on you heavily if you posted the same one 7 months apart (even though they are on different websites). Perhaps you should contact them to see if they could rule out Douglas?

Good work!!
 
Bump for Doug since GD people have been looked at a lot lately.

AnonymousD - Thanks, I think I'll look into that more this week. I know there was a possible siting in NJ but that never produced anything so.......back to square one (aka NC)
 
If Doug and his friends from Florida would drive up to NC for a concert, so could people from NJ drive down to NC for the same concert. Grateful Dead was quite the band - people from all over would have attended. I don't find it so far off that he would end up in NJ if someone from NJ at the concert took him. Once I read this story for the first time that he disappeared after a concert I thought, "Welp, that's it right there." This was back before cellphones, Facebook and social media; concert life was a bit different. He could have been attracted by a group of people doing drugs or some other activity, and things got out of hand and either he got seriously drugged up or was taken. Some mix of both maybe.
 
This case popped up recently on NamUs https://identifyus.org/en/cases/14379

The age is off (10 years low end) and estimated weight (JD 30lbs heavier) are off. The height is close (2").

JD was found in April of 1994 with gray shorts on so it reminded me of this case. I googled images for the brand of JD Habrand Hiking shorts and "bermuda shorts" and they are similar.

The Dead played about 70 miles from the JD area 10 days after Doug went missing. There is no real reason to think he ran off to follow them but....what else do we have? :thinking:

No Probable year of death on the JD. No dental, no DNA, no fingerprints so I'm going to park this thought here and see if that case gets updated.
 
That would be amazing. I've been wondering about Douglas for a long time.
 
attachment.php
I came up with this after a little bit of investigation and poking around, it seems a very close match to the age progression photo. I am not sure the guy wants to be found.
 

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