CA CA - Coronado, WhtMale UnkAge, UP113873, Unique Bracelet, blue swim trunks, Found by two UID Fems who reported death to St Parks gardener, May'78

[ProudSuggestion3528]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Unidentified Person
NamUs #UP113873
Male, White / Caucasian

Case Numbers​

ME/C Case Number: 1978-01118

Demographics​

Biological Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Estimated Age Group: Cannot Determine
Estimated Year of Death: 1978
Height: 5' 6"(66 inches) , Measured
Weight: 128 lbs, Measured

Circumstances​

Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: May 22, 1978
NamUs Case Created: December 31, 2023

Location Found Map​

Location: Coronado, California 92118
County: San Diego County
Found On Tribal Land: Unknown
Circumstances of Recovery: The decedent was found at approximately 8:20am on 05/22/1978 by two unidentified females who reported the death to a state parks gardener.

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Details of Recovery​

Condition of Remains: Recognizable face

Physical Description​

Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown (Both L and R)

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Distinctive Physical Features​

No Information Entered​

Clothing and Accessories​

Item	Description	Location
Clothing	Blue swimming shorts	On the Body
Jewelry	Heavy link white metal style identification bracelet on the right wrist without name but engraved with various symbols.	On the Body

0 MP Exclusions

This case is found in the county that I am from. Hopefully he can get his name back though I think he was found near the beach which Coronado was probably not as developed in 1978. This would indicate his swim trunks though his bracelet is kind of unique as it is similar to identification bracelets but has symbols.

 

[ProudSuggestion3528]

Stephen Lee Murphy?

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Other than Eye Color (looks brown in photos). He does seem to fit the profile of this UID. Height is around 5'2 to 5'7 (UID is 5'6)? Weight is around 130-180 (UID is 128 lbs). Was last seen on May 2, 1976 but this UID was found on May 22, 1978 so he could have lived off the grid for a couple of years in San Diego co or joined the military.

 

[Bit of hope]

It's sad they don't have a picture of the bracelet. He also had a recognizable face, but I believe (although to me it seems very helpful) they don't show PM pictures in Californian cases or very seldom. Maybe they will add this in the coming weeks.

 

[Oiseaux]

How precise are NAMUS locations like the one in this listing? He is dressed like someone I would expect to find on a beach, but NAMUS shows him as found in a residential neighborhood a short walk away from North Beach/Dog Beach adjacent to the military base. (Though Coronado is a beachy town, so it isn't really unusual garb in general.)

IMO: the fact that the finders spoke to a State Parks gardener seems to suggest that he was actually found near Silver Strand State Beach, the only CA State Parks land in Coronado. This is the beach along the the thin strip of land that attaches the southern end of Coronado to the mainland.

Silver Strand State Beach

California State Parks

www.parks.ca.gov

 

[Oiseaux]

I found the original article from the Coronado newspaper, dated 5/25/1978. He did wash up at Silver Strand State Beach. Interesting how there are some differences in the information.

*****
Man’s body washes ashore at state beach

The body of a man in his early 20s, believed drowned off a nearby Mexican beach, was washed ashore at Silver Strand State Beach on Monday. Coroners deputies still had not identified the victim, described as 5feet, 5-inches tall, weighing 130-pounds with black hair and brown eyes. The body, clad in blue swim trunks, was estimated to have been in the water one week

Coronado Eagle and Journal 25 May 1978 — California Digital Newspaper Collection

California Digital Newspaper Collection

cdnc.ucr.edu

 

[Bit of hope]

How precise are NAMUS locations like the one in this listing? He is dressed like someone I would expect to find on a beach, but NAMUS shows him as found in a residential neighborhood a short walk away from North Beach/Dog Beach adjacent to the military base. (Though Coronado is a beachy town, so it isn't really unusual garb in general.)

IMO: the fact that the finders spoke to a State Parks gardener seems to suggest that he was actually found near Silver Strand State Beach, the only CA State Parks land in Coronado. This is the beach along the the thin strip of land that attaches the southern end of Coronado to the mainland.

Silver Strand State Beach

California State Parks

www.parks.ca.gov

The location in Namus is often not accurate, just somewhere in the postal code area.

 

[Bit of hope]

I found the original article from the Coronado newspaper, dated 5/25/1978. He did wash up at Silver Strand State Beach. Interesting how there are some differences in the information.

*****
Man’s body washes ashore at state beach

The body of a man in his early 20s, believed drowned off a nearby Mexican beach, was washed ashore at Silver Strand State Beach on Monday. Coroners deputies still had not identified the victim, described as 5feet, 5-inches tall, weighing 130-pounds with black hair and brown eyes. The body, clad in blue swim trunks, was estimated to have been in the water one week

Coronado Eagle and Journal 25 May 1978 — California Digital Newspaper Collection

California Digital Newspaper Collection

cdnc.ucr.edu

Nice! So we have an age estimate and a PMI. The black hair could be looked like that just because the hair was wet. Let's keep it at dark brown hair. The Namus file says 'measured' about height and weight, so I think that's accurate.

What's bothering me a bit is that this seems to be a white/Caucasian male, but he is supposed to went into the water at a nearby Mexican beach and drowned. Why a Mexican beach in particular? What is the reason they think that?

 

[Bit of hope]

Could the bracelet have Mayan signs? Is that the reason they think he went into the water in Mexico?

 

[victoriarobinson642]

What's bothering me a bit is that this seems to be a white/Caucasian male, but he is supposed to went into the water at a nearby Mexican beach and drowned. Why a Mexican beach in particular? What is the reason they think that?

Maybe they retraced the current patterns from where he washed up and traced it to a specific beach? But I guess they'd probably mention that...

 

[katydid23]

Nice! So we have an age estimate and a PMI. The black hair could be looked like that just because the hair was wet. Let's keep it at dark brown hair. The Namus file says 'measured' about height and weight, so I think that's accurate.

What's bothering me a bit is that this seems to be a white/Caucasian male, but he is supposed to went into the water at a nearby Mexican beach and drowned. Why a Mexican beach in particular? What is the reason they think that?

There are a lot of white tourists who went to Mexico and went to the beaches there.

But I do wonder how they know the victim went into the water at a Mexican beach.

Looking at the google map of Silver Strand State Beach makes it very strange that a body from Mexico could end up there because Silver Strand is an inlet beach.

Silver Strand State Beach · 5000 CA-75, Coronado, CA 92118

★★★★★ · State park

www.google.com

 

[Bit of hope]

There are a lot of white tourists who went to Mexico and went to the beaches there.

But I do wonder how they know the victim went into the water at a Mexican beach.

Looking at the google map of Silver Strand State Beach makes it very strange that a body from Mexico could end up there because Silver Strand is an inlet beach.

Silver Strand State Beach · 5000 CA-75, Coronado, CA 92118

★★★★★ · State park

www.google.com

Yes, I was thinking about a possible tourist too, but my gut feeling says if a tourist goes missing in Mexico there are a lot of media outlets. But then again, it were different times back in 1978. Maybe it was less of a big thing in those days.

I don't know anything about the current at that particular coast. Looking at the map, I would expect a body to drift further up and stuck in the area nearer to Coronado.

 

[Bit of hope]

I find this interesting. It's a view from above on Silver Strand State Beach.

 

[Oiseaux]

There are a lot of white tourists who went to Mexico and went to the beaches there.

But I do wonder how they know the victim went into the water at a Mexican beach.

Looking at the google map of Silver Strand State Beach makes it very strange that a body from Mexico could end up there because Silver Strand is an inlet beach.

Silver Strand State Beach includes both the bay and Pacific sides of the beaches. I would guess that he was found on the Pacific side. The comment upthread about water currents is probably correct, IMO - there is a frequent issue with sewage spills making their way from Tijuana to the Coronado beaches and causing water quality issues there, so I suspect the currents do tend to flow in that direction.

I found the Caucasian/Mexican beach link interesting, too! I wonder if it’s as simple as “the currents flow here” or if it was the brand of clothing, etc. Wish we could have seen the bracelet, too.

 

[Oiseaux]

Here's an article from the city of Coronado about the sewage issue. It mentions that southern swells do flow north from Mexico to Coronado, particularly in the summer. Since this person was found in May, this probably supported their assumption that he had come from the south.

New Water-Testing System Increases Closures in Coronado

Coronado has experienced an increase in beach closures in recent weeks. This follows the implementation of a new ocean-water testing technology by San Diego County health officials.

www.coronado.ca.us

It might have also been that there were no matching missing persons reported from CA beaches at the time. A quick peek at NAMUS didn't show anyone from that time period who looked like they could be an obvious match (but I'm by no means a seasoned user).

 

[ProudSuggestion3528]

NamUs listing has been modified with a reconstruction. Age has been updated to 16-99.

 

[Bit of hope]

NamUs listing has been modified with a reconstruction. Age has been updated to 16-99. View attachment 506410

That's a pretty awesom recon. I hope it will bring the answers.

 

[lightofmine99]

NamUs was modified today; no new exclusions.