citizen_sleuth
Verified family member - Orie Donald Esh thread
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- Aug 2, 2021
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NamUs #UP55126
Demographics
Sex: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 70
Estimated Age Range (Years): 40-70 (News reports say 35-45)
Estimated Year of Death: 1972
Estimated PMI: N/A (News reports say 1 hour)
Height: 5'9"-5'10" (69-70 inches), Estimated
Weight: 120-135 lbs, Estimated
Cause of Death: Homicide by burning
Circumstances
Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: October 3, 1972
NamUs Case Created: January 31, 2019
ME/C QA Reviewed: N/A
Location Found: Baxter, California
County: Placer County
Circumstances of Recovery: At 7:50 a.m. on October 3, 1972, a Southern Pacific work crew spotted smoke coming from a remote hillside near an Interstate 80 overpass outside the rural community of Baxter in Placer County. When they went to investigate the source of the smoke, they discovered the smoldering body of a man wrapped in blankets. One of the members of the work crew, Joe Bravo, was a reserve sheriff's deputy and took it upon himself to secure the scene until homicide detectives arrived.
The man, who was wearing a white hospital gown and socks, was found wrapped in a bed pad made of corded material, a cheap red and blue plaid blanket, and a green "Cannon" hospital sheet. He had been doused with an unspecified flammable liquid, likely gasoline, and set on fire.
An autopsy revealed that the man, likely between the ages of 35 and 45, had smoke in his lungs, indicating he had been burned alive. In addition to the severe burns which caused the man's death, the victim had also suffered a massive brain hemorrhage within the past 24 hours caused by a blow from a blunt instrument. Because he was so badly burned, detectives were only able to obtain one fingerprint from the body.
The victim also showed signs of severe long-term abuse. He had bed sores on his back and although he stood 5'9"-5'10" inches tall, he weighed just over 110 pounds, indicating severe malnutrition. His fingernails were also three-quarters of an inch long and his teeth were in such poor condition that a dentist who examined them said it was doubtful the man had ever received dental care. He had numerous broken ribs and an untreated fracture of his left upper arm. The arm fracture occurred roughly two months before the murder. His feet were described as "like a baby's" because they appeared as though they had never been walked on.
Due to the man's poor physical condition and the items recovered at the scene, homicide detectives believe the man was likely a patient at a long-term care facility. Over 100 such facilities in California, Nevada, and surrounding states were contacted in an effort to identify the victim, but none admitted ever having a patient matching his description.
Having hit a brick wall with the care facilities, detectives reached out to the Placer County welfare department and various state agencies involved in health care, family care, and care for adults with developmental disabilities, but were unable to identify the man.
The man's body was kept in a refrigeration facility at the Sacramento County Coroner's Office for eight months while detectives investigated in the hope that someone would come forward to identify the man. No one did. He was buried in a pauper's grave in Colfax District Cemetery.
Inventory of Remains: All parts recovered
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Charred/burned
Physical Description
Hair Color: Red/Auburn
Head Hair Description: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown, possibly blue
Distinctive Physical Features: Extremely poor dental hygiene. Unhealed fracture of the upper left arm and rib fractures. Likely had a physical or mental disability which rendered him unable to care for himself.
Clothing and Accessories
- White hospital type gown and socks (On the Body)
- Bed pad made of corded material, US Army blanket, green "Cannon" single-size bedsheet, and an inexpensive red and blue plaid blanket (Near the Body)
News Coverage
"Burned Body Is Found Near I-80," Sacramento Bee, 4 October 1972, B3.
The burned body of an unidentified man with reddish-brown hair and about 50 years old has been found near Interstate 80 east of Baxter.
Placer County Sheriff William A. Scott said the man apparently had been mistreated before he was wrapped in blankets, doused with a flammable liquid and set afire. The sheriff said the body apparently was dumped alongside the highway from a vehicle.
"S.O. Probes Grisly Homicide At Baxter," Auburn Journal, 5 October 1972, 1.
Officers said the body was found Tuesday by a Southern Pacific work crew which spotted smoke from the smoldering blankets and other bed clothes. The body was charred extensively, and smoke found in the lungs indicated the victim had been burned alive.
The corpse bore no overt signs of violence such as gunshot or knife wounds, but officers said that in the past two months the victim had suffered a broken left arm which had gone untreated.
The fact that the body bore what appeared to be bed sores led to speculation that the man recently had been a patient in a hospital or a rest home.
[...]
County pathologists were of the opinion the man died some time Tuesday morning.
Photograph of murder scene, Auburn Journal, 12 October 1972, A1.
"Homocide Remains Still Unidentified," Auburn Journal, 19 October 1972, A12.
Sheriff's Capt. E. R. Presley said an extensive pathological examination disclosed that the Caucasian victim, about 45 years of age, died from burns but that he has sustained a brain hemorrhage -- possibly from a fall or a blow on the head -- within 24 hours before his death.
The victim, believed to have been a patient in a rest home or hospital, also had a fractured left arm which had gone untreated, three-quarter inch long fingernails, and several bed sores. He was five feet nine or 10 inches, 130 pounds, with blue eyes, brownish-red hair and his own teeth which had not received proper care in recent years.
"Case Of Man Set Afire Joins Secret Witness List," Sacramento Bee, 26 October 1972, A1, A24.
[part 1] [part 2]
The body, in a badly burned condition, was found early in the morning of Oct. 3. The victim was a white male, about 35 to 45 years of age, 5 feet 9 or 10 inches tall, weighing 110 to 120 pounds. He had reddish brown hair and probably blue eyes.
Evidence indicates the body was doused with a flammable liquid substance which was set afire.
The victim wore a white hospital gown and was wrapped in a bed pad of corded material, a green Cannon single sheet, a US Army blanket and an inexpensive red and blue plaid bedspread.
An autopsy showed the man was suffering from malnutrition and had been badly in need of dental and medical care. His left arm had been fractured six weeks to two months before his death but the injury had not been treated. Several ribs also were broken. His fingernails were very long.
"Bodies Found In Foothills Remain Unidentified," Sacramento Bee, 13 November 1972, A6.
A more grotesque murder was that of a handicapped man about 40 years of age whose incinerated body was found near Baxter in October about an hour after the murderer doused the man with some inflammable fluid and set him afire. The victim had been beaten, evidenced by a near fatal head injury, fractured ribs, an untreated, long-time fractured arm along with other signs of mistreatment including malnutrition and serious need of dental care.
“Neither do we know who this poor victim was,” explained Ables. “If someone would come forward and tell us something about him, perhaps only meager information, maybe we could find the person or persons who murdered him,” he explained.
Joe Carroll, "Mysterious Torch Death Investigation Goes On," Auburn Journal, 24 January 1973, A1, A8.
[part 1] [part 2]
"God only knows the frame of mind someone had to be in to do that kind of thing," the prematurely silver-haired [Placer County Sheriff's Department homicide detective Pete] Ables reflected in his office yesterday.
Literally hundreds and perhaps thousands of man hours have been spent on the investigation since 7:50 a.m. on the bright Tuesday morning in October when the smouldering [sic] body, wrapped in charred blankets and a green sheet, was discovered by a Southern Pacific work crew which included Joe Bravo, a reserve sheriff's deputy whose presence served to preserve the physical evidence at the scene until Ables and his technical staff arrived.
[...]
More than 100 such [long-term care] facilities have been contacted since the murder but none has been able to shed any light on the case.
In this regard, Ables has received considerable assistance from the county welfare department and various State agencies connected with health care services, family care, boarding homes for the aged and outpatient mental retardation.
Because of the method of the murder, the State fire marshal's office is also involved in the case as is the State Criminal Identification and Investigation Bureau and even Dr. Kenneth Fox, the sculpting Auburn dentist who has attested to the poor condition of the victim's teeth -- so bad, in fact, that it is doubtful he ever was treated by a dentist.
[...]
"All of these factors would indicate that the man was perhaps a mentally retarded individual who had been under care for most, if not all, of his life," Ables opined.
[...]
Ables said the Bee has received numerous tips about the case; they have been thoroughly checked out but have netted no results.
Working in conjunction with the murder investigation is E. R. Presley, the county's chief deputy coroner who is responsible for the victim's body, which, somewhat surprisingly, has yet to be buried or cremated. It is being kept in refrigeration at the Sacramento County Coroner's Office in the hope that someone eventually will identify it -- or what's left of it -- and for additional study by pathologists.
[...]
"All I can say is we keep trying," said Ables. "It's hard to imagine that nobody misses this man. He's got to belong to somebody, doesn't he?"
"Year-old Murder Still Puzzle," Auburn Journal, 3 October 1973, A1.
It was 7:50 a.m. on October 3, 1972, when a Southern Pacific work crew spotted smoke on a remote hillside in the rugged Baxter area and found the smouldering [sic] body of a white man wrapped in charred hospital blankets and a scorched green sheet.
[...]
There is no doubt that the man was helpless. Post mortem examinations disclosed that he had been a victim of malnutrition; that his upper left arm had been broken and not set for perhaps six weeks before he was burned alive; that he had numerous bed sores on his back; that he had three-quarter inch fingernails; and that he had feet like a baby's -- as though they'd never been walked on.
The man also wore a hospital gown, a fact which when coupled with the other findings has led sheriff's homicide investigators to be [sic] believe to this day that he had been a patient in a rest home or convalescent facility for several years.
The body was burned so thoroughly that only one fingerprint -- that of the middle finger on the right hand -- was clear, yet no matchup ever has been found in the dozens of police and public agency files with which it has been checked.
Nor have any of the scores of rest homes and hospitals which have been checked in California, Nevada and elsewhere admitted to ever having a patient fitting the description of the victim.
For eight months following the murder the body of the victim was kept in a refrigeration facility in the hope that someone would come forward and attempt an eyeball identification of it. No one ever did.
[...]
The victim's remains were buried last May in an indigent grave in the Colfax District Cemetery.
"Year-Old Placer Slaying Remains A Mystery," Sacramento Bee, 4 October 1973, B3.
It was a year ago yesterday the burned body of a 35-to-45-year-old man was found at an overpass east of Baxter. The victim, doused with gasoline, was clad in a white hospital gown and wrapped in a bed pad and a US Army blanket.
"The material was still smoking when discovered, and so far we have not found out much more than that about what happened to the man," Sheriff's Inspector Arthur Ables said.
An autopsy found the man had been suffering from malnutrition, and was badly in need of dental care and orthopedic treatment. Examination of the body showed the left arm had a six-week-old fracture that had not been treated, and the man had his ribs fractured and his skull crushed by a blunt weapon.
"He had not been cared for at all," explained Ables, who indicated the victim had been isolated somewhere for a long period of time. He pointed out the unidentified man's fingernails had grown an inch in length.
"What baffles us," Ables explained, "is that no one has come forward to at least identify the mistreated man. Surely somewhere there is a person who knows about what happened to him. All we can do is keep searching for someone who may know about him."
Demographics
Sex: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 70
Estimated Age Range (Years): 40-70 (News reports say 35-45)
Estimated Year of Death: 1972
Estimated PMI: N/A (News reports say 1 hour)
Height: 5'9"-5'10" (69-70 inches), Estimated
Weight: 120-135 lbs, Estimated
Cause of Death: Homicide by burning
Circumstances
Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: October 3, 1972
NamUs Case Created: January 31, 2019
ME/C QA Reviewed: N/A
Location Found: Baxter, California
County: Placer County
Circumstances of Recovery: At 7:50 a.m. on October 3, 1972, a Southern Pacific work crew spotted smoke coming from a remote hillside near an Interstate 80 overpass outside the rural community of Baxter in Placer County. When they went to investigate the source of the smoke, they discovered the smoldering body of a man wrapped in blankets. One of the members of the work crew, Joe Bravo, was a reserve sheriff's deputy and took it upon himself to secure the scene until homicide detectives arrived.
The man, who was wearing a white hospital gown and socks, was found wrapped in a bed pad made of corded material, a cheap red and blue plaid blanket, and a green "Cannon" hospital sheet. He had been doused with an unspecified flammable liquid, likely gasoline, and set on fire.
An autopsy revealed that the man, likely between the ages of 35 and 45, had smoke in his lungs, indicating he had been burned alive. In addition to the severe burns which caused the man's death, the victim had also suffered a massive brain hemorrhage within the past 24 hours caused by a blow from a blunt instrument. Because he was so badly burned, detectives were only able to obtain one fingerprint from the body.
The victim also showed signs of severe long-term abuse. He had bed sores on his back and although he stood 5'9"-5'10" inches tall, he weighed just over 110 pounds, indicating severe malnutrition. His fingernails were also three-quarters of an inch long and his teeth were in such poor condition that a dentist who examined them said it was doubtful the man had ever received dental care. He had numerous broken ribs and an untreated fracture of his left upper arm. The arm fracture occurred roughly two months before the murder. His feet were described as "like a baby's" because they appeared as though they had never been walked on.
Due to the man's poor physical condition and the items recovered at the scene, homicide detectives believe the man was likely a patient at a long-term care facility. Over 100 such facilities in California, Nevada, and surrounding states were contacted in an effort to identify the victim, but none admitted ever having a patient matching his description.
Having hit a brick wall with the care facilities, detectives reached out to the Placer County welfare department and various state agencies involved in health care, family care, and care for adults with developmental disabilities, but were unable to identify the man.
The man's body was kept in a refrigeration facility at the Sacramento County Coroner's Office for eight months while detectives investigated in the hope that someone would come forward to identify the man. No one did. He was buried in a pauper's grave in Colfax District Cemetery.
Inventory of Remains: All parts recovered
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Charred/burned
Physical Description
Hair Color: Red/Auburn
Head Hair Description: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown, possibly blue
Distinctive Physical Features: Extremely poor dental hygiene. Unhealed fracture of the upper left arm and rib fractures. Likely had a physical or mental disability which rendered him unable to care for himself.
Clothing and Accessories
- White hospital type gown and socks (On the Body)
- Bed pad made of corded material, US Army blanket, green "Cannon" single-size bedsheet, and an inexpensive red and blue plaid blanket (Near the Body)
News Coverage
"Burned Body Is Found Near I-80," Sacramento Bee, 4 October 1972, B3.
The burned body of an unidentified man with reddish-brown hair and about 50 years old has been found near Interstate 80 east of Baxter.
Placer County Sheriff William A. Scott said the man apparently had been mistreated before he was wrapped in blankets, doused with a flammable liquid and set afire. The sheriff said the body apparently was dumped alongside the highway from a vehicle.
"S.O. Probes Grisly Homicide At Baxter," Auburn Journal, 5 October 1972, 1.
Officers said the body was found Tuesday by a Southern Pacific work crew which spotted smoke from the smoldering blankets and other bed clothes. The body was charred extensively, and smoke found in the lungs indicated the victim had been burned alive.
The corpse bore no overt signs of violence such as gunshot or knife wounds, but officers said that in the past two months the victim had suffered a broken left arm which had gone untreated.
The fact that the body bore what appeared to be bed sores led to speculation that the man recently had been a patient in a hospital or a rest home.
[...]
County pathologists were of the opinion the man died some time Tuesday morning.
Photograph of murder scene, Auburn Journal, 12 October 1972, A1.
"Homocide Remains Still Unidentified," Auburn Journal, 19 October 1972, A12.
Sheriff's Capt. E. R. Presley said an extensive pathological examination disclosed that the Caucasian victim, about 45 years of age, died from burns but that he has sustained a brain hemorrhage -- possibly from a fall or a blow on the head -- within 24 hours before his death.
The victim, believed to have been a patient in a rest home or hospital, also had a fractured left arm which had gone untreated, three-quarter inch long fingernails, and several bed sores. He was five feet nine or 10 inches, 130 pounds, with blue eyes, brownish-red hair and his own teeth which had not received proper care in recent years.
"Case Of Man Set Afire Joins Secret Witness List," Sacramento Bee, 26 October 1972, A1, A24.
[part 1] [part 2]
The body, in a badly burned condition, was found early in the morning of Oct. 3. The victim was a white male, about 35 to 45 years of age, 5 feet 9 or 10 inches tall, weighing 110 to 120 pounds. He had reddish brown hair and probably blue eyes.
Evidence indicates the body was doused with a flammable liquid substance which was set afire.
The victim wore a white hospital gown and was wrapped in a bed pad of corded material, a green Cannon single sheet, a US Army blanket and an inexpensive red and blue plaid bedspread.
An autopsy showed the man was suffering from malnutrition and had been badly in need of dental and medical care. His left arm had been fractured six weeks to two months before his death but the injury had not been treated. Several ribs also were broken. His fingernails were very long.
"Bodies Found In Foothills Remain Unidentified," Sacramento Bee, 13 November 1972, A6.
A more grotesque murder was that of a handicapped man about 40 years of age whose incinerated body was found near Baxter in October about an hour after the murderer doused the man with some inflammable fluid and set him afire. The victim had been beaten, evidenced by a near fatal head injury, fractured ribs, an untreated, long-time fractured arm along with other signs of mistreatment including malnutrition and serious need of dental care.
“Neither do we know who this poor victim was,” explained Ables. “If someone would come forward and tell us something about him, perhaps only meager information, maybe we could find the person or persons who murdered him,” he explained.
Joe Carroll, "Mysterious Torch Death Investigation Goes On," Auburn Journal, 24 January 1973, A1, A8.
[part 1] [part 2]
"God only knows the frame of mind someone had to be in to do that kind of thing," the prematurely silver-haired [Placer County Sheriff's Department homicide detective Pete] Ables reflected in his office yesterday.
Literally hundreds and perhaps thousands of man hours have been spent on the investigation since 7:50 a.m. on the bright Tuesday morning in October when the smouldering [sic] body, wrapped in charred blankets and a green sheet, was discovered by a Southern Pacific work crew which included Joe Bravo, a reserve sheriff's deputy whose presence served to preserve the physical evidence at the scene until Ables and his technical staff arrived.
[...]
More than 100 such [long-term care] facilities have been contacted since the murder but none has been able to shed any light on the case.
In this regard, Ables has received considerable assistance from the county welfare department and various State agencies connected with health care services, family care, boarding homes for the aged and outpatient mental retardation.
Because of the method of the murder, the State fire marshal's office is also involved in the case as is the State Criminal Identification and Investigation Bureau and even Dr. Kenneth Fox, the sculpting Auburn dentist who has attested to the poor condition of the victim's teeth -- so bad, in fact, that it is doubtful he ever was treated by a dentist.
[...]
"All of these factors would indicate that the man was perhaps a mentally retarded individual who had been under care for most, if not all, of his life," Ables opined.
[...]
Ables said the Bee has received numerous tips about the case; they have been thoroughly checked out but have netted no results.
Working in conjunction with the murder investigation is E. R. Presley, the county's chief deputy coroner who is responsible for the victim's body, which, somewhat surprisingly, has yet to be buried or cremated. It is being kept in refrigeration at the Sacramento County Coroner's Office in the hope that someone eventually will identify it -- or what's left of it -- and for additional study by pathologists.
[...]
"All I can say is we keep trying," said Ables. "It's hard to imagine that nobody misses this man. He's got to belong to somebody, doesn't he?"
"Year-old Murder Still Puzzle," Auburn Journal, 3 October 1973, A1.
It was 7:50 a.m. on October 3, 1972, when a Southern Pacific work crew spotted smoke on a remote hillside in the rugged Baxter area and found the smouldering [sic] body of a white man wrapped in charred hospital blankets and a scorched green sheet.
[...]
There is no doubt that the man was helpless. Post mortem examinations disclosed that he had been a victim of malnutrition; that his upper left arm had been broken and not set for perhaps six weeks before he was burned alive; that he had numerous bed sores on his back; that he had three-quarter inch fingernails; and that he had feet like a baby's -- as though they'd never been walked on.
The man also wore a hospital gown, a fact which when coupled with the other findings has led sheriff's homicide investigators to be [sic] believe to this day that he had been a patient in a rest home or convalescent facility for several years.
The body was burned so thoroughly that only one fingerprint -- that of the middle finger on the right hand -- was clear, yet no matchup ever has been found in the dozens of police and public agency files with which it has been checked.
Nor have any of the scores of rest homes and hospitals which have been checked in California, Nevada and elsewhere admitted to ever having a patient fitting the description of the victim.
For eight months following the murder the body of the victim was kept in a refrigeration facility in the hope that someone would come forward and attempt an eyeball identification of it. No one ever did.
[...]
The victim's remains were buried last May in an indigent grave in the Colfax District Cemetery.
"Year-Old Placer Slaying Remains A Mystery," Sacramento Bee, 4 October 1973, B3.
It was a year ago yesterday the burned body of a 35-to-45-year-old man was found at an overpass east of Baxter. The victim, doused with gasoline, was clad in a white hospital gown and wrapped in a bed pad and a US Army blanket.
"The material was still smoking when discovered, and so far we have not found out much more than that about what happened to the man," Sheriff's Inspector Arthur Ables said.
An autopsy found the man had been suffering from malnutrition, and was badly in need of dental care and orthopedic treatment. Examination of the body showed the left arm had a six-week-old fracture that had not been treated, and the man had his ribs fractured and his skull crushed by a blunt weapon.
"He had not been cared for at all," explained Ables, who indicated the victim had been isolated somewhere for a long period of time. He pointed out the unidentified man's fingernails had grown an inch in length.
"What baffles us," Ables explained, "is that no one has come forward to at least identify the mistreated man. Surely somewhere there is a person who knows about what happened to him. All we can do is keep searching for someone who may know about him."
I wonder how he could be identified? Certainly the people who did this aren’t going to come forward. I’d imagine he was in their care for some time. JMO
