CA CA - Farren Stanberry, 18, San Francisco, 24 Apr 1980

[Mfleish]

Nevermind, figured it out! Farren has 1 exclusion from Oregon and the rest are from Virginia. The 2 UIDs have zero exclusions.

 

[AirForceVet24]

I wanted to give an update to Farren's case.

So this morning I got a call from the Sherrif of Grant County. I had submitted an FOIA in this case and I explained who I was ect. Now, from what I understand is that remains in California have been LINKED to Farren, However, the John Doe does not have DNA available, so their trying to get those remains confirmed through other means. They did deny my request for FOIA on the basis that this is an active investigation. But the sherrif was very nice to talk too ect.

 

[Mfleish]

I wanted to give an update to Farren's case.

So this morning I got a call from the Sherrif of Grant County. I had submitted an FOIA in this case and I explained who I was ect. Now, from what I understand is that remains in California have been LINKED to Farren, However, the John Doe does not have DNA available, so their trying to get those remains confirmed through other means. They did deny my request for FOIA on the basis that this is an active investigation. But the sherrif was very nice to talk too ect.

Oh wow, is that John Doe on Namus? Do you know how they were linked?

 

[AirForceVet24]

I am honestly not too sure which Doe it is, since its an active investigation he would not tell me a whole lot. He did tell me though that the Doe is in San Francisco. My heart is like racing right now my goodness.

 

[Mfleish]

I am honestly not too sure which Doe it is, since its an active investigation he would not tell me a whole lot. He did tell me though that the Doe is in San Francisco. My heart is like racing right now my goodness.

Mine, too! I know that I and many on this thread would love to see his case resolved.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I am honestly not too sure which Doe it is, since its an active investigation he would not tell me a whole lot. He did tell me though that the Doe is in San Francisco. My heart is like racing right now my goodness.

Thanks for making that call, AirForceVet24.

I see several young John Does in NamUs who he could be. It's so sad that they are all still unnamed.

Some found in the bay. One that died in the corner of a building's attic. Too many sad struggling young men.

It's heartening that they do still try to identify them if they can.

 

[Maat99]

What does it mean when remains are “linked” to a missing person? Does it mean they found clothing or personal items that seem to belong to the missing person?

 

[AirForceVet24]

Your welcome! Oddly enough, I didnt call them. I had submitted an FOIA for Farren's case and it was the Sheriff of Grant County who called me and in this line of work, when you get a call from a random number, its best that you pick it up and I am glad I did. For me, the way I see Farrens story is that he was this young guy who wanted to see the world. He lived in a small town and he wanted to see what the world had to offer and make a life for himself.


Also he never specified what the linkage was and I was very hesitant to even ask since its an active investigation. Also I do have a copy of the denial letter if anyone ever wants to see it.

 

[Bit of hope]

Mine, too! I know that I and many on this thread would love to see his case resolved.

You are totally right @Mfleish. Very exiting news @AirForceVet24.

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm wondering if the Grant County Sheriff is still talking about this unidentified person.

The San Mateo coroner let me know about that wad of papers in the John Doe,s pocket. Can anyone let me know what a tax stamp is?
She must think there's a chance this could be Farren since she is following it up

Message from the coroner:
I looked into the "wad of papers" and per our records these included wet tissues, packet material, and a California State tax stamp. They did not seem to be noteworthy or helpful in identifying the decedent at the time. Additionally a Marlboro 100 box was found in the pocket. These were released to the police department at the time of the examination.

We're still waiting on the cemetery to locate their records on this case. We'll be in touch if find out if the decedent was buried or cremated or if we locate any biological material that would be viable for DNA comparison.

 

[Mfleish]

Hi all,

Our friend Chris is still working away behind the scenes with @AirForceVet24 and I just wanted to share an update from Sgt Rand in Grant County, Oregon: "We thought the body they found in an attic near by where he was living was Farren but the dental records did not match. We also thought [NamUs #UP5866] they had found shortly after his disappearance was him but it was ruled out as well."

These updates are not yet on Namus.

 

[AirForceVet24]

Chris is so great! He helps me so much on a daily basis. I am so glad that Oregon was able to clarify some things with us!

 

[chaddylex]

OMG I haven't been on Websleuths all that much but have just read the last few posts.... Farren's case has been one I have been following for a very long time. I really hope he gets his name back. I really wish too they said which Doe the have linked him to.

Many of us here spent a lot of time trying to find out what happened to Farren, and trying to match him to Does in CA and across the country. Thank you @AirForceVet24 for submitting a FOIA, at least you were able to get some information.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

These updates are not yet on Namus.

Do you know if they are still testing any other John Does, or does this mean they ruled out everyone they thought could be him?

 

[Mfleish]

Do you know if they are still testing any other John Does, or does this mean they ruled out everyone they thought could be him?

There is another John Doe they strongly believe to be him, but need to see if dentals are available to compare as the John Doe they suspect to be him was cremated. IMO it has to be a doe that is not listed on Namus since @AirForceVet24 mentioned above that there is a "link" to Farren that makes them suspect the doe is him and no other does in Namus match that well.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

@Mfleish Thanks for the info. There are quite a few in NamUs that seem possible to me, and hopefully they find an identifier for the other Doe. It would be amazing if they solve this case.

 

[The4TierBridge]

There is another John Doe they strongly believe to be him, but need to see if dentals are available to compare as the John Doe they suspect to be him was cremated. IMO it has to be a doe that is not listed on Namus since @AirForceVet24 mentioned above that there is a "link" to Farren that makes them suspect the doe is him and no other does in Namus match that well.

Most of the NamUs profiles for San Francisco are pretty barren and don't have any pictures, so nobody fitting very well from a viewer's perspective would make sense, and some time between 1971 and the 90s they did start to cremate their unidentified bodies instead of burying them (the timeline is discussed in this article about a 2014 JD, #UP146037, whose skull the medical examiner himself accidentally threw in the trash while cleaning in 2022: Shallow graves, missing skulls: S.F.'s long history of mistreating unclaimed dead)

 

[KathPlumber]

I'm wondering if the Grant County Sheriff is still talking about this unidentified person.

Message from the coroner:
I looked into the "wad of papers" and per our records these included wet tissues, packet material, and a California State tax stamp. They did not seem to be noteworthy or helpful in identifying the decedent at the time. Additionally a Marlboro 100 box was found in the pocket. These were released to the police department at the time of the examination.

We're still waiting on the cemetery to locate their records on this case. We'll be in touch if find out if the decedent was buried or cremated or if we locate any biological material that would be viable for DNA comparison.

I am pretty sure that Doe was identified as Brian Edward Jones as a result of Chris submitting him as a match for Farren. His WS thread. Just another example of all the amazing work that Chris quietly does (and of course expects no credit for!!)

ps. so happy to be back on this thread!! I still believe we can find him...

 

[KathPlumber]

I promised I would make a list of DOE / UID ruleouts as some people were asking. The MEs/Coroners I have heard from have checked all their records but are unlikely to record them all as rule outs on NamUs. Ok so:

NAMUS-Most of Farren's rule outs are from Virginia (normal as VA had a clearing house of their Does and throughly checked them all). There are also the below:
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) (Oregon-recently identified as Jesus Ruiz)
UP7980 (Ohio)
There is not 1 single rule out on NamUs for Does in California!! And I think this is because he is listed as missing from Oregon.

PILLAR POINT DOE
UP10528
Farren's details were passed onto the Marin County Coroner in the 90's after the SF ME read an ad placed by RC about Farren. But this Doe was ruled out as being Farren. Since been identified as someone from Salt Lake City but family didn't want the name released.

MARIN COUNTY
All Does between 1980-27th June 2023 RULED OUT (15 Does)

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
All Does between 1980-5th July 2023 RULED OUT (5 Does)

STANISLAUS COUNTY
All Does between 1980-10th July 2023 RULED OUT (13 Does)

Here is some info we already know on rule-outs for Farren. We can now comprehensively add
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) #UP5901

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) #UP5866

 

[Mfleish]

Hi all, so I misunderstood that there was another doe that could possibly be Farren, here's the correction from Chris just so we are all on the same page.

"Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know so there's no confusion: The Doe that they believed was linked to Farren was #UP5901 (Attic Guy). They believed he was "linked" to Farren because he was found in the building next door to The National Hotel. This doe was cremated but has dentals. This is actually a doe that had already been compared to Farren and ruled out several years ago. I am not sure why Grant County didn't have this info, because we certainly knew lol But I'm glad it is now definitely ruled out. The other rule out done at the same time was #UP5866, a body found floating in the Bay 5 days after Farren last called home.

As far as I am aware there are currently no more unidentified being compared to Farren at the moment and indeed, there are none in San Francisco that seem to match. However, if someone does have a Doe that they think might be Farren then i urge you to submit while his case is somewhat active. Bear in mind that Farren has both DNA and dentals on file, so any UIDs known to have DNA need not be submitted.

You're all amazing sleuthers! Thanks to all Chris (Ciriii57)"