Identified! NC - Wilkes Co, WM, Green Jacket, in Woods near Apts, Wilkesboro, May'19 - Stephen Blake North

[Gardener1850]

The Wilkesboro Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in efforts to identify the person whose remains were found Thursday evening in woods near the U.S. 421 West retail corridor.

Wilkesboro Police Chief Craig Garris said anyone with information they believe could be relevant to the investigation is asked to call the Wilkesboro Police Department at 336-667-7277. He said the person had been deceased for several months because the remains were nearly skeletal.

Investigators believe the remains are those of a white male of average height and hope to learn more about the identity and cause of death from an autopsy to be conducted by a state medical examiner, said Garris, adding that there is no indication of foul play.

He said the body was clothed in a green jacket, khaki-colored pants, brown cross-trainer-type boots and a burgundy-colored toboggan with a yellow stripe around it. The remains were found in what appeared to be a campsite and/or gathering place with bottles and other debris, he said. No identifying information was found.

Wilkesboro Officers P.M. Brown and Matthew Osborne found the body while responding to a call at 7:21 p.m. Thursday about a tent in woods near Mountain View Apartments, which is northwest of the Big Lots store and south and west of Winkler Mill Road.

Read more: Public's help sought after body found

BBM.

 

[Gardener1850]

I posted this to the following missing person Threads:

John Demarino: WV - WV - John DeMarino, 53, vehicle recovered in Ohio, Roane County, 30 Jan 2019

Steven Mark Wolfe: NC - NC - Steven Mark Wolfe, 43, Asheville, 8 May 2019

Forrest Stephen Treat: NC - NC - Forrest Stephen Treat, 29, Union County, 25 Feb 2019

Justin Wayne Anthony: NC - NC - Justin Wayne Anthony, 33, ran from EMS after fall, Vale, Lincoln County, 10 Feb 2019

John Demarino had a similar clothing description when last seen (green Jacket, Khaki-colored pants, work boots and beanie cap).

 

[Gardener1850]

This article has a good map of the location (taken from Google):

Body found in woods in Wilkesboro

Doesn't look like a very large patch of woods. MOO.

 

[Gardener1850]

WILKESBORO,N.C.--A headless, handless body was found in a wooded area of Wilkesboro by officers investigating an unrelated call Friday afternoon.

Wilkesboro Police Chief, Craig Garris, confirms two of his officers responded to a report of someone living in a tent in the woods behind an apartment when they made the discovery. The officers were walking near think brush and saw the decomposed body. The body didn't have a head or hands, the officers noted in their report.

A skull and one hand that is believed to be from the body was later found, chief Garris tells WFMY News 2, but they still don't know who the person is. An autopsy showed the body was that of a white man, he said.

Garris says he thinks animals got to the body and that's why the hands and head were no longer attached. Officers believe the body had been there for possibly two to four months.

Oddly, Garris said no one from the apartment complex, or nearby ever reported a foul smell or odor coming from the area where the body was found.

Chief Garris says they're still trying to determine a positive identity of the person and will likely have to use dental records or DNA. He said investigators were never able to find the other hand that was missing from the body.

Body With No Head, Hands Found in the Woods in Wilkesboro; Police Need Help Identifying the Person

 

[Lorenak83]

Following

 

[KatzEye]

Police working to identify body found in Wilkesboro; Head, hand missing

BBM

WILKESBORO, N.C. —

Wilkesboro police are investigating after finding a body in the woods near Mountain View apartments on Abbington Court.

The police chief tells WXII 12 News that the head was not attached, a hand was missing, and it will likely have to be identified by dental records or DNA. Authorities say an autopsy determined the death is not criminal.

An exact cause of death has not been released.

Dental records should be able to rule out some of the persons mentioned upthread.

 

[KatzEye]

I'm a bit shocked there have been no further MSM announcements about this.

 

[Gardener1850]

I'm hoping they sent the remains to Texas and are simply waiting on DNA. Wilkesboro is a small town of just under 3500 people: Wilkesboro, North Carolina - Wikipedia

I think this man might have been homeless. Wilkesboro has a homeless shelter with 11 beds and is trying to build a larger one with 20-40 beds: Some Wilkes Co. residents, church leaders speaking out against site of proposed new homeless shelter

(It's a shame about the church member's negative attitude but that's a whole different topic )

I wonder if police asked shelter volunteers if they recognized this man's description?

MOO.

 

[KatzEye]

He was entered in NamUs in February :

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Gardener1850]

He was entered in NamUs in February :

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Some details from NAMUS:

Height 5' 6"-6' 2"(66-74 inches) , Estimated

Estimated Age Range (Years) 22-32

That's quite a wide height range and includes some taller than average heights IMO.
It's also a younger age range than I expected. That rules out half the men previously suggest here.
22-32 is relatively young to be homeless as well (although I know young people can become homeless too). I wonder if he was more of a backpacker/hiker just passing through?

MOO.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Wilkesboro LE is obviously aware of this, but others reading this thread might not be. Nearby Wilkes Co. Community College hosted a four day music festival, Merlefest, honoring Doc and Merle Watson on their campus in late April (25-29). Tens of thousands of music fans attend this festival every year (including me). Ironically, hundreds of them were camped at the Rivers Edge Park during the festival, just half a mile southeast from the deceased's camp. Perhaps he came here in March or early April looking for work with festival preparations. Lots of short term help is needed each year in erecting stages and "circus" type tents for music, vendors, food courts, etc. I'm not sure if the time gap is enough for this theory to fit the known facts of the case. But there is certainly an influx of people into this area leading up to the event.

 

[KatzEye]

Interesting article from March with additional info :

More learned about remains in Wilkes

Wilkesboro Police Chief Craig Garris said Friday that the most notable new information is that the man had one plate on the left side of his jaw and two plates on the right side of his jaw. He said this would have resulted from the jaw being broken.

“The person is strongly believed to be a Caucasian male between 22 and 32 years old and about 5’10” tall,” added Garris.


The additional identifying information was determined when the remains were sent to the N.C. Human Identification & Forensic Analysis Laboratory at North Carolina State University in Raleigh for an osteological examination.

 

[KatzEye]

Identified as Stephen Blake North, 29, from Ohio.

Remains found in Wilkesboro in 2019 identified

Garris said the remains are those of Stephen Blake North, a transient person originally from Ohio and 29 at the time of his death.

“The investigation revealed no signs of a crime and is closed,” he said. An autopsy found no indication of physical injury and evidence at the scene suggested that no crime was committed, he further explained.


Garris said North’s family was notified in late July about identification of the remains. “North had been missing for quite a while” and was known to have been in Asheville in late February 2019, he said.

Rest peacefully, Stephen.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Thanks @KatzEye! This is the first I heard about this initiative. RIP Stephen.
From the article:
“This was the new initiative’s second success story. This group combines anthropology, DNA, genealogy and investigative work to match unidentified remains with the missing and the murdered,” said Garris.

Dr. Ann Ross, a forensic anthropologist at North Carolina State University, secured a startup grant from the University of North Carolina system to create the initiative in October 2019. Ross heads the Human Identification and Forensic Analysis Laboratory at NCSU."

Article about their prior successful case (also has a Websleuths thread):
DNA Discovery Ends 16-Year-Old Cold Case
Identified! - NC - Cameron, WhtMale UP6662, 25-30, in burned-out house, Nov'05 *Michael Joe Wesley Baker