NC NC - Near Iredell & Davis Co line, BlkMale 25-40, UP998, 'Seafarer' pants, belt w/buckle, Sept'75

[Coffee56]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

1924UMNC

Date of Discovery: September 19, 1975
Location of Discovery: Iredell County, North Carolina
Estimated Date of Death: 1 day prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Homicide

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 25-40 years old
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Height: 5'9" to 5'11"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hair: Black with full beard and mustache.
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Possibly 1" to 1 1/2" scar on the lower right quadrant. Uncircumcised.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available. Restorations present.
Fingerprints: Not available; footprint available.
DNA: Insufficient DNA for profiling.

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Fragments of Seafarer blue denim trousers - type used for Navy issue, belt with a metal buckle, fragment of a white T-shirt, and blue Pro-Keds tennis shoe on the left foot.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Discovery
The victim was found on September 19, 1975, wrapped in blankets and burning on unpaved rural road 2209, which leads into the Midway Family Campground. It is a dead-end road approximately 500 feet off of US Highway 64 near Interstate 40, east of Statesville.

Most of the body was burned, with the exception of the face. He had been stabbed several times in the head and shot twice.

The remains were later cremated and buried at sea.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Agency Contact Person: Clyde Gibbs
Agency Phone Number: 800-672-7042
Agency E-Mail: cgibbs(at)ocme.unc.edu
Agency Case Number: 75-582

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 998
Former Hot Case Number: 1102

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Mooresville Tribune

Admin Notes
Added: 5/18/08; Last Updated: 6/28/18

 

[ccmetro]

Here's some additional information sites that includes local newspaper clippings about this case including additional details about the scene that this UID was found:
Veteran Doe link
Hickory Record link

 

[AbandonedNC]

Nothing much to contribute here save for some small details.
The road where he was dumped only goes for maybe 150 yards before you hit the campground turn in on the left. I can't find exact details but assume he was dumped on that end of the road with steep banks and prominent ditches.
It seems to me most likely someone whipped off interstate 40 and disposed of him.

September 75 was a busy month in Iredell county, and I think this case was neglected focusing first on the rape/murder/attempted murder that happened shortly before, and the triple homicide and hunt for Donald Lee Harding that happened afterwards.

 

[Hochman]

Larger resolution version of reconstruction from NAMUS page.

 

[phantomstrider]

Larger resolution version of reconstruction from NAMUS page.

Thats a much better view

 

[phantomstrider]

I think identifying him will be hard due to the fact he was cremated so there’s no DNA available

 

[AbandonedNC]

I think identifying him will be hard due to the fact he was cremated so there’s no DNA available

I think you're probably right. Short of whoever actually killed him coming forward, there's not a lot of hope for this one to be solved.
It could even be the murderer(s) didn't know who he was if the retribution angle is correct and he was brutally killed as some sort of vigilante act for the rape and attempted murder of Barbara Triplett and the murder of her friend Pamela Mayhew.
I will say I don't believe he's a local.

 

[Hochman]

I think identifying him will be hard due to the fact he was cremated so there’s no DNA available

Dentals and footprints (NOT FINGERPRINTS) are still available however.

 

[HopeRains]

Dentals and footprints (NOT FINGERPRINTS) are still available however.

And, while evidence when previously worked to develop profile was insufficient, perhaps there is enough with newer (or future) technology that would yield some type of usable DNA profile. Always with Hope <3

 

[phantomstrider]

And, while evidence when previously worked to develop profile was insufficient, perhaps there is enough with newer (or future) technology that would yield some type of usable DNA profile. Always with Hope <3

He was cremated so I don’t think they collected any dna from him. I feel like John and Jane does should never be cremated as that reduces the chances of identification.

 

[HopeRains]

He was cremated so I don’t think they collected any dna from him. I feel like John and Jane does should never be cremated as that reduces the chances of identification.

They did collect some evidence, from which I would suggest they likely attempted to generate a profile. The namus case file says:

DNA: Insufficient DNA for profiling.

I don't know what was collected or when they attempted the initial DNA profile work. I'm hopeful evidence remains and perhaps they can attempt again at some point with newer technology with not such strict criteria around amounts of evidence required and even often the ability to use degraded evidence. Fingers crossed.

 

[phantomstrider]

They did collect some evidence, from which I would suggest they likely attempted to generate a profile. The namus case file says:

DNA: Insufficient DNA for profiling.

I don't know what was collected or when they attempted the initial DNA profile work. I'm hopeful evidence remains and perhaps they can attempt again at some point with newer technology with not such strict criteria around amounts of evidence required and even often the ability to use degraded evidence. Fingers crossed.

That dna might have also belonged to the killer maybe there is still hope this case can be solved

 

[ccmetro]

They did collect some evidence, from which I would suggest they likely attempted to generate a profile. The namus case file says:

DNA: Insufficient DNA for profiling.

I don't know what was collected or when they attempted the initial DNA profile work. I'm hopeful evidence remains and perhaps they can attempt again at some point with newer technology with not such strict criteria around amounts of evidence required and even often the ability to use degraded evidence. Fingers crossed.

I don't know how much was particularly extracted from the remains particularly, but from the Hickory/Statesville newspaper article (Hickory Record):

"A shell casing found near the body was processed and there is DNA on the casing. So far, however, the person who left that DNA is not in the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS)"

 

[apearn]

Bumping for attention. He has been unidentified for 47 years.

 

[MadMcGoo]

A very unusual case.

 

[ccmetro]

A very unusual case.

Honestly, I think it is eerily similar to another case I have seen recently on WS and NamUs.
Link: SC - Piedmont, BlkMale 20-30, UP66344, wrapped in a gasoline soaked shirts, bed sheet, Jan'75
NamUs: NamUs Link

"This unidentified black male believed to be in his 20's was found in a ditch on a dirt road by a hunter. The body was wrapped in a gasoline soaked shirts, bed sheets and a bedspread had two belts tied around the neck. Blunt force trauma was noted about the head. The body was burning when it was found. The death may have occurred at another location."

It is also noted that this murder occurred in January 1975.

Midway Campground Road (Iredell/Davie County location) is 2 hr 34 min (156.6 mi) from Piedmont, SC.

I don't know if there's a possible connection - but in MOO, these seem to be styled very similar - I don't if this was a common MO for an individual, or even a group, but I do think that both of these areas seemed to have a historical Klan presence. I am not going to directly attribute this to that, unless a further basis is proven.

Also, I am going to submit Leonard Edward Johnson as a possible match for this Iredell/Davie County UID to the NamUs specialist for this area for NC - as I have shown in this thread for Leonard:

"The age of Johnson would be either 24 or 25 - the age range of this UID is 25-40.
The height is similar, this UID was estimated at 5' 11", while Johnson was recorded at 5' 8".
The weight is exact, with the UID estimated at 130-150 pounds, and Johnson's reported weight is 150 pounds.
The time-frame is a bit later, but possibly consistent - the UID was found Sept. 19th, while Johnson went missing in March.

What really stuck out to me is that the UID was wearing Navy-issue clothing, and also that according to a local newspaper interview with LE (not listed in NamUs), that the UID's extensive dental work is representative of someone in the military, which I attribute to Johnson had spent time in the Coast Guard for this proposed connection."

 

[HopeRains]

From newpapers.com Statesville Record and Landmark (Statesville, NC), 19 Sep 75, pg 1




Statesville Record and Landmark (Statesville, NC), 26 Sep 75, pg 1

 

[HopeRains]

Noting as indicated in articles, etc., he was found very close to I-40. Very nearby, in Statesville, is the I-77 and I-40 interchange.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

@Caring1 Hey could you post the NamUs exclusion list for this John Doe?

 

[Caring1]

@Caring1 Hey could you post the NamUs exclusion list for this John Doe?

0 Missing Person Exclusions