AZ AZ - Near Ehrenberg, La Paz Co, UnkMale UP54766, remains of 2 adults, Coast Guard belt bckle, Mar’88

[MadMcGoo]

Unidentified Person
NamUs #UP54766
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Non-official belt buckle with US Coast Guard emblem

Date Body Found: March 15, 1988
Location Found: Near Ehrenberg, La Paz County, Arizona

Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: Uncertain
Estimated Age Group Adult
Estimated Year of Death: 1985-1987
Estimated Height: 5' 8"-6' 0" (68-72 inches)
Weight: Cannot Estimate
Hair Color: Other
Head Hair Description: A mass of long head hairs, strawberry/blonde in color, recovered with the two individuals
Eye Color: Unknown

Accessories: Distinctive US Coast Guard belt buckle (Near the Body)

Inventory of Remains: One or both hands not recovered
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Charred/burned

Circumstances of Recovery: The burnt and comingled skeletal remains to two adults were found in association with an outdoor fire. Distinctive US Coast Guard belt buckle also recovered.

La Paz County Sheriff's Office
1109 West Arizona Avenue
Parker, Arizona 85344
(928) 669-6141
La Paz County Sheriff's Office | To Serve and Protect | La Paz County
Agency Case Number: R 0649 88
ME/C Case Number: 18-3066

 

[MadMcGoo]

I have been unable to locate a NamUs file on the second adult found with this male...

 

[annemc2]

Whoa that is super weird. That is a tiny, tiny town with less than 2,000 residents. It is along I-10 though, which would either lead towards Phoenix or California. I wonder what the circumstances were with the fire? Like did it look like they were camping, or was it a brush fire or somebody burned their bodies or what?

 

[Melt71]

277DMCA - John Stewart Campbell
John Stewart Campbell missing since February 1985 from Northern CA so a long way from this part of the CA cross to AZ.

1730DMTX - Thomas Howard Pulaski
Thomas Howard Pulaski missing from Houston TX since November 1985

 

[Bit of hope]

I have been unable to locate a NamUs file on the second adult found with this male...

Unidentified Person
NamUs #UP54766
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
View attachment 261257
Non-official belt buckle with US Coast Guard emblem

Date Body Found: March 15, 1988
Location Found: Near Ehrenberg, La Paz County, Arizona

Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: Uncertain
Estimated Age Group Adult
Estimated Year of Death: 1985-1987
Estimated Height: 5' 8"-6' 0" (68-72 inches)
Weight: Cannot Estimate
Hair Color: Other
Head Hair Description: A mass of long head hairs, strawberry/blonde in color, recovered with the two individuals
Eye Color: Unknown

Accessories: Distinctive US Coast Guard belt buckle (Near the Body)

Inventory of Remains: One or both hands not recovered
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Charred/burned

Circumstances of Recovery: The burnt and comingled skeletal remains to two adults were found in association with an outdoor fire. Distinctive US Coast Guard belt buckle also recovered.

La Paz County Sheriff's Office
1109 West Arizona Avenue
Parker, Arizona 85344
(928) 669-6141
La Paz County Sheriff's Office | To Serve and Protect | La Paz County
Agency Case Number: R 0649 88
ME/C Case Number: 18-3066

Strange....only one mentioned in Namus....I thought maybe one was already identified, but no trace of that either. I see two coast guard emblems, why two.... ?

 

[MadMcGoo]

This one is strange. I couldn't find anything when I searched, but I may try and search through newspapers and see if there is more detail available.

 

[Ciriii57]

I think they assumed this was a non- official (fake) coast guard buckle because of the "semper paratus" (always ready) motto, but the actual emblem on the shields looks nothing like any of the coastguard emblems that could find. This is also the motto of many other organisations, I don't have time to search through right now but I will do and attempt to match it to another organisation. Stay tuned.

I think I can make out a tree in one of the quadrants, I doubt the coast guard would Use a tree?

 

[nao]

Moo. I put in semper paratus vintage badge. On Google. First one is image of e bay sale of with same emblem, though the seller doesn't know what it originally belongs with...moo

 

[nao]

 

[Ciriii57]

View attachment 447101

Ooh well done! It still doesn't look too coast guardy to me.
I can't really make out the other things, but one looks like a palm tree, could it have a south Carolina connection?

 

[Ciriii57]

The US coast guard has an official historian, I might reach out and see if they can recognise it.

Otherwise it's also the motto of the 12th cavalry regiment, but their emblem seems to be a cactus.

South Carolina didn't give me anything, not even their coast guard division. I wish we could make out what the other images were. The top one looks a bit like a head or tree with stars?
Maybe a secret society or army division. I'm stumped for now.

 

[nao]

Ooh well done! It still doesn't look too coast guardy to me.
I can't really make out the other things, but one looks like a palm tree, could it have a south Carolina connection?

 

[Ciriii57]

That's it yes! Good sleuthing @nao

This one's exactly the same! Ok so it's the insignia of the 132nd Infantry Regiment, a regiment from Illinois that was merged with another unit I 1954 and this particular insignia was cancelled in 1961.
So it's possible this was something purchased in a thrift store, or the person could have previously served in this division. Could there be an Illinois connection?

I'm emailing La Paz Sheriff with this info now!

 

[Bit of hope]

From the Namus file:

The burnt and co-mingled skeletal remains to two adults were found in association with an outdoor fire. Distinctive US Coast Guard belt buckle also recovered.

A mass of long head hairs, strawberry/blonde in color, recovered with the two individuals.

Man pretending to be persons of authority (insignia). I think the belt buckle is something fashionable. Maybe the found burned remains are from a man and a woman? (long blond hairs found on crimescene). Somehow I had always two men in mind. I searched for an unidentified woman, but she is not in Namus.

Namus states: Non-official belt buckle with US Coast Guard emblem

Were the insignes both on the belt? Still confused why there are two of them. Just for show, looks better?

 

[MadMcGoo]

I couldn’t find anything about the discovery of these two. This is the only thing that came up during my search. Maybe they were headed to the California Strawberry Festival Strawberry Blonde Contest.

Mar 15, 1988, page 5 - Camarillo Star at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Camarillo Star dated Mar 15, 1988, page 5.

www.newspapers.com

 

[Bit of hope]

Off course this person had a totally different buckle, but I thought this was interesting in relation to it. Maybe he inherited it or stole it from a police officer?

 

[cheemsg]

Could the date be wrong? I can only find about a fire in Ehrenburg in October 1988, not March 1988.
Article clipped from Arizona Republic

 

[Bit of hope]

Whoa that is super weird. That is a tiny, tiny town with less than 2,000 residents. It is along I-10 though, which would either lead towards Phoenix or California. I wonder what the circumstances were with the fire? Like did it look like they were camping, or was it a brush fire or somebody burned their bodies or what?

Could the date be wrong? I can only find about a fire in Ehrenburg in October 1988, not March 1988.
Article clipped from Arizona Republic

Good find Cheemsg! The way it's described in Namus suggests they were caught in a fire, at least that is how I perceive it.

"The burnt and comingled skeletal remains to two adults were found in association with an outdoor fire."

Estimated Year of Death is 1985-1987

Maybe an outside fire happened in those years. I think there are fires on a regular basis, maybe this one was not reported to the press?