NC NC - Robeson Co, US-301, 4 mi N of Rowland, WhtMale 23-35, UP2179, clothes, wht hanky, Mar'80

[Gardener1850]

ME/C Case Number: 80-223
Robeson County, North Carolina
23 to 35 year old White Male

Date Found: March 20, 1980

Height: 65 Inches
Weight: Cannot Estimate

Body Condition: Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only

This light to medium build, probably early 30s white male was located in a wooded area off of US-301, 4 miles north of Rowland.

Hair: Brown; light brown and long

Clothing: small size underwear, white turtleneck shirt (size 18, chest 34), cotton undershirt (size 38-40), one navy blue T-shirt (size 18, chest 34), pair of blue jeans (W30 X L32), one pair of white thermal underwear (size 34-36), a white handkerchief.

The following people have been ruled out as being this decedent:
Steve Arrowwood 1956 NC

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/2179

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Hair: Brown; light brown and long

So they do a reconstruction of him with short hair. Very helpful. If they know he had long hair it has to be because they found some with the remains so why not depict it accurately in the reconstruction?

 

[Coffee56]

So they do a reconstruction of him with short hair. Very helpful. If they know he had long hair it has to be because they found some with the remains so why not depict it accurately in the reconstruction?

My first thought also. I find that when I see that something that simple doesn't match I don't really pay much attention to the reconstruction.


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[Gardener1850]

I had some similar thoughts. It's also sort of hard to see the front view and I can't get the photo larger. The NaMus file also hasn't been updated in years. This man needs a new reconstruction picture and new eyes to get his name back, IMO. Maybe the wonderful sleuths here can help

 

[reasonableguess]

Found in Robeson County, so might be Lumbee, not “white.”


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[Melt71]

This UID had long, light-brown hair which is not depicted in the recons.

 

[madamx]

1287DMAZ - Roger Ralph Packer

Name: Roger Ralph Packer
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: December 05, 1979
Location Last Seen: Payson, Gila County, Arizona

Physical Description
Date of Birth: November 13, 1953
Age: 25 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 130 - 140 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers
Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance
Packer was last seen in Tempe, Arizona on December 5, 1978, when he left for vacation possibly to the Pacific Northwest. Packer's vehicle was later found abandoned in the East Verde River Campgrounds in Payson, Arizona and Pac

 

[madamx]

3949DMLA- William Denzel Newman, Jr.

Mouse over to enlarge.

Name: William Denzel Newman, Jr.
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: January 8, 1980
Location Last Seen: Slidell, St. Tammany County, Louisiana

Physical Description
Date of Birth: November 18, 1955
Age: 24 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hair Color: Dark blond
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Richard
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Tattoos on both arms and shoulders.

Identifiers
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: May have been wearing a red short-sleeved shirt with stripes around the collar.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance
Newman was last seen at home in Slidell, LA on January 8, 1980. He may have traveled to Lacombe, LA. He has not been seen nor heard from since.

 

[YaYa_521]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
One exclusion:
MP2049 Steve Arrowood 04/04/1975 Gaston NC

 

[imstilla.grandma]

ROWLAND — Not much is known about a skeleton found in the Robeson County woods more than four decades ago except that the man visited a motel and wore a turtleneck — and that someone killed him.

The remains of the man who wore a size 18 white turtleneck were found in the woods off U.S. 301 about 4 miles north of Rowland.

Evidence located at the scene included items from a Ramada Inn roughly 10 miles to the north in Lumberton, according to archived news reports that list the man’s cause of death as homicide.

The remains were found March 20, 1980, with an estimated date of death between 1979 and 1980.

The man in the turtleneck was white, between around 23 and 35 years old. He stood 5 feet, 5 inches tall with an unknown weight, but he probably had a slight to medium build. His eye color is unknown. He had long, light brown hair, although a reconstruction shows him with short, dark hair.

Washed ashore, unearthed in shallow graves, stumbled upon in the woods, discovered in abandoned houses, killed on busy roads and located in rivers, ponds and along railroad tracks, more than 100 bodies remain unidentified in North Carolina. This is one of their stories.

Beside the turtleneck, the man wore a cotton undershirt, size 38; a navy blue T-shirt, size 18, jeans, size 30; white thermal underwear, size 34; and briefs, size 30. He had a white handkerchief in his pocket.

Dental information is available as a possible identifier. The man had mild periodontal disease with restorations to several teeth. Teeth No. 16 and No. 17 were missing after death. All dental work appears to have been done by a single dentist within a year or so prior to death, according to information from the Doe Network, a volunteer-run international clearinghouse for unidentified and missing persons.

The man’s fingerprints are not available, but mtDNA and nucDNA are available for matching.

The man’s number is 2179 in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Ruled out as a match is Steve Arrowood, missing from Gaston since 1975.

Anyone with information in the case can call the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office at 910-617-3100.
Body in Robeson still unidentified 42 years later | The Enterprise

 

[HopeRains]

I researched this case many years ago. What I recall with regards to a connection to the Ramada Inn was a matchbook being found, perhaps even in the pocket of the jeans; I'm not certain of this. Hotels/hotel bars had these cheap marketing items readily available in 1979/80.

Assuming info is correct on DoeNetwork resource, the extensive dental work in such a short period. Basically all molars, except for the 2 wisdom teeth lost ante-mortem, not after death as the article above indicates. I immediately think military - I know many people who went into the service and were able to get all the dental work done they had not been able to previously. Could also have occurred with benefits with a new job or even getting dental services through county health department.

And just because I'm here, the white handkerchief as always kind of thrown me.

 

[Melt71]

@madamx neither Packer nor Newman has this UID listed in their manual ruleouts list (Newman's list is 3 pages, and while lots are VA, he has comparisons for a wide variety of states so he seems to have quite active LE).

Do you think you would turn either in? With such little information to go on it's hard to narrow down matches any further - I would go with Newman over Packer just because he was headed to the east cost (whereas there was no confirmation Packer was headed that direction).

 

[Caring1]

Bump. No new exclusions.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

JD profile recon

 

[HopeRains]

Map showing Rowland (location of remains), proximity to both the border of SC (only a few miles) and Lumberton (approx 10 miles as per reports).