Identified! AZ - Nogales, Male, UP6352, Sept 8, 2002 - Donald Sigurd Hadland, Jr.

summergirl1

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  • #1
This is a case the DNA Doe Project recently took on, and that I couldn't find a thread for.

Description:

On September 8, 2002, the manager of a hotel in Nogales, Arizona, discovered the body of an adult man in one of the rooms. The man had an 8” surgical scar along his left frontal hairline and had told the hotel manager that he had been consulting a doctor in Mexico about surgery on his head.

Investigators think the man was Caucasian and between 49-73 years old. He was approximately 6’ tall and 192 pounds, with brown eyes and short, partially gray hair. He also had a short gray beard and mustache. When this John Doe was found, he was wearing a silver necklace with a “C” medallion and was in possession of an identification card belonging to “Edward C” from St. Petersburg, Florida. He may also have used the name “Donald H”.

NamUs ID:

UP6352

Date Body Found:

Sept 8, 2002

Race:

White/Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Estimated Age:

49-73

Estimated PMI:

Hours
 
  • #2
Right now, there’s a big focus on solving three specific cases.

One includes a man found in 2002 in a hotel room in Nogales.

“One of the reasons is for each of these three men their bodies were found the day they died. So, we were able to collect a blood sample from that autopsy,” Anderson said.

He also added that for each of the three unidentified males, a blood sample was taken. This will hopefully help find blood relatives who are already in the ancestry database. Another reason for the hyperfocus on these three John Does was because of how long they’ve been in the database.

The first John Doe they hope to identify from Nogales. A Caucasian man who checked into a hotel under a false name in 2002.
 
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  • #3
  • #4
The NamUs page for this Doe is down at the moment.
 
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  • #7
The investigator for this case has informed me that this man has been positively identified. His next-of-kin have also been notified.
 
  • #8
The investigator for this case has informed me that this man has been positively identified. His next-of-kin have also been notified.
Thanks for the update, @Grungster!

May he rest peacefully.

MOO JMO
 
  • #9
Some further details I can share,

This man was tentatively identified in 2017 based off a fingerprint match to an arrest in Florida. There was trouble finding next-of-kin but eventually, the family were finally tracked down this year. Family members made a visual identification based off facial photographs of the decedent.
 
  • #10
Identified as Donald Sigurd Hadland, Jr. by the DNA Doe Project

Nogales John Doe 2002 - DNA Doe Project Cases

RIP Donald. This is his 1960 yearbook photo from the University of Puget Sound

donald-hadland-jr.png
 
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  • #13
It's interesting the C medallion was for his fake name then.
 
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  • #15
Can an admin change the header to "Identified"?
 

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