KY KY - Keysburg, MultMale 20-47, UP94, GSW to chest, concealed behind abandoned farmhouse, Apr’92

[MadMcGoo]

Unidentified Male / NamUs #UP94

​

Date Body Found: April 30, 1992
Location Found: East of Keysburg, Logan Co, Kentucky
Remains: Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Estimated Year of Death: 1992
Estimated PMI: Weeks
Estimated Age: 20-47 years
Estimated Height: 5'7" - 5’10”
Estimated Weight: 140-160 lbs.
Hair Color: Black, straight
Facial Hair: Black, 1/2 inch long beard
Eye Color: Unknown
Race/Ethnicity:
(per FBI) White/Caucasian/Unknown
(per NamUs) Hispanic/Latino
Clothing:
(per FBI) A brown t-shirt and yellow sweatpants
(per NamUs) A multicolored short sleeved knit shirt and yellow sweatpants

Circumstances of Discovery
On April 30, 1992, the decomposed remains of an adult male were located in a trash pile behind an abandoned farmhouse in Keysburg, Kentucky. The victim was discovered facedown, wearing a brown t-shirt and yellow sweatpants. The victim was covered in clear plastic and two saw horses. The victim had a gunshot wound to the chest. Foul play was suspected, but there were no leads as to the identity of the victim or a possible suspect. The victim has been buried in Kentucky as a "John Doe."

FBI ViCAP: (800) 634-4097
Agency Case Number: 03-92-0676
Kentucky State Police
Detective Greg Dukes
Detective Laura Isenberg (270) 782-2010
CA Mary Muchmore (502) 564-1020
Logan County Coroner’s Office: (270) 755-2175
Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office
Amy Burrows-Beckham (502) 489-5209
Regional Program Specialist
Amy Jenkinson (817) 304-8873

Sources
NamUs
FBI Most Wanted
ViCAP Alert (#2011-07-02)
AMW Fans

 

[GJKJR]

May 4, 1992. News-Democrat and Leader, Russellville, KY.

May 1, 1992. The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY.

May 2, 1992. The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY.

May 14, 1992. News-Democrat and Leader, Russellville, KY.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Just wanted to carry over a few comments from the broad discussion thread that pertain to Keysburg...RBBM

I’m now convinced there is some room for error (intentional or otherwise) in Chris Zahn’s case! In short (yah right) Chris arrived in Florida from Switzerland in September 1991. He stayed there with friends until January 1992 when he set out on his tour of popular US cities. First stop - Georgia. He kept in touch with his mother and the friends from Florida via telephone and letters. By all accounts, the communication stopped sometime in April.

Chris supposedly spoke with his travel agent over the phone on April 28, 1992. That’s the last known contact by anyone with “Chris”. I say “Chris” because I’m thinking there’s a chance that the travel agent did not speak with Chris, rather someone pretending to be Chris. (If the account was from someone close to or familiar with him, I’d be less suspicious, as he spoke with a slight German accent) but listen to this. It’s from the appeal filed by Harry Hale in regards to the fraud charges he received for using Chris’ stolen credit cards...

“Jones [investigator] also obtained a motel receipt from a Carrollton [Georgia] motel, showing a room rental in May in Zahn's name. He determined that three phone calls were made from that room, including two local calls traced to Musick and Turner, two local teenagers. Talking to these young men, Jones discovered that they had met a man using the name "Christoph" while on a visit to Cumberland Mall in the spring of 1992. They said he had a "funny accent" and told them he was from Switzerland. They talked with him for about 15 minutes and gave him their phone numbers.

Law enforcement authorities from Cobb and Carroll Counties and the GBI were contacted and the two young men were brought to Atlanta on October 13th in order to prepare a composite drawing of the man they met. Further investigation identified Hale and, on January 6, 1993, the two men were shown a photo spread from which each separately identified Hale as the man they met at the mall.”

Kentucky also has a 1990 homicide cold case involving the shooting deaths of 3 individuals near Glasgow; two of their last names are Hale. It may or may not be related, but I think worth noting.

So, depending on exactly when Hale met Chris (and likely murdered him) and started impersonating him (as is evident from the court document), I think it’s very possible that Chris could be UP94, who coincidentally was also shot to death.

Wait, hold the phone. I found an article about Keysburg Doe, which states that he only had one kidney. This gives a decent bit more information on the case in general, actually.

ETA: I found another article which stated that Keysburg Doe was of [Mongoloid]; "Oriental, Hispanic, or Indian" descent, at least 40 years old?, and the kidney he was missing was his right kidney. I'm starting to doubt that this is Chris Zahn.

Oh wait! Hold the phone again...he’s way too all over the place, or maybe I am. lol... what do we wanna do with his stats? I think I confused him with Letcher a minute ago... or Chris with Letcher

How is a congenitally (is that a word?) missing kidney NOT listed anywhere? That is something I could see potentially being listed on a MP report. Over, say...a missing front tooth!

And this abandoned farmhouse belonged to an out of state resident?! Did you post the article about him being Oriental/Indian/Hispanic? I added the others to the Doc. I guess I’m just really confused about Letcher and Keysberg. I’m going to have to pause and read those two again lol

Good find! NamUs has him listed as Hispanic. My take from the various sources is that he might have been a mix of Hispanic and Native American.
I went down the rabbit hole of researching hereditary solitary kidney defect (Unilateral renal agenesis) by race to see if we could draw any conclusions, but didn't find anything definitive. Side note, adults can be born with just 1 kidney and never know it unless they have medical problems that require x-rays and testing.

In addition to the race issue, the ages reported seem to place him closer to 40 years old. The fact that he was wearing yellow sweatpants seems out of character for a 20 year old, too. I doubt this is Chris Zahn, but it would be great to get him officially ruled out on NamUs.

GJKJR did you add the articles you found to the Keysburg Doe thread on WS? It would be good to do that. And, in keeping within TOS, I think we need to include the source with the article image. (i.e.newspaper/date)

Hispanic and Native American would seem pretty realistic given the information we have, hmm. No idea on the age though, not too familiar on the fashion of the time, after all.

You're right, I need to add them to the Keysburg thread. My fault, apologies. I'm currently in class, so I will upload them as soon as possible. TY for reminding me!

The use of the term Mongoloid means the conclusion in the ME's report was based on observation rather than through DNA. Mongoloid is used to describe people from Asia/Siberia/Pacific Islands and Native Americans with certain physical characteristics, like shovel-shaped teeth and shape of the eyes/folds in the corners of the eyes.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Potential Match:

1. Christoph R. Zahn, Christoph Zahn

 

[Grungster]

Wow...this is almost exactly what happened to Daviess County John Doe and Grant County John Doe. Could the people responsible done the same thing?

 

[fred&edna]

Wow...this is almost exactly what happened to Daviess County John Doe and Grant County John Doe. Could the people responsible done the same thing?

Definitely a pattern, it seems. However, Grant County John Doe seems different... due to the fact his hands were removed (IIRC). jmo

 

[Grungster]

Definitely a pattern, it seems. However, Grant County John Doe seems different... due to the fact his hands were removed (IIRC). jmo

Daviess Count had his hands and feet removed I think

 

[fred&edna]

Daviess Count had his hands and feet removed I think

Oh my! I need go back and review all these cases.

ETA: You're correct! Daviess Co John Doe... both hands and feet missing!

 

[MadMcGoo]

You've not been forgotten. @othram hopefully this KY case could use your help.

 

[Beccalicious]

Bumping