ND ND-Cass Co, WhtMale, 47-53, UP104798, Lying near Burlington Northern Railway, Oct '70

[phantomstrider]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)​

Date Body Found October 27, 1970​

Location Found Page, North Dakota​

Estimated Age Range 47-53 years​

Sex Male​

Race/Ethnicity White/Caucasian​

Estimated Age Group Cannot Determine​

Estimated Year of Death 1970​

Height 5'3"-5'5" (63-65 inches), Estimated​

Location Page, North Dakota 58064​

County Cass County​

Found On Tribal Land No​

Circumstances of Recovery Located lying near the Burlington Northern Railway near Page, North Dakota(Cass County).​

Inventory of Remains All parts recovered.​

Condition of Remains Not recognizable- Decomposing/putrefaction.​

Hair Color Brown​

Eye Color Brown​

Accessories Blue Penney's handbag containing a pair of black slip-on boots(Wellington type), a pair of dirty socks, one pair of shorts, and a brown jacket. On the bottom of the bag was a Minneapolis(MN) newspaper dated December 25, 1968. The bag was found six weeks prior to the body being found about 1/3 mile west of where body was found.​

Eyewear 12k gold metal frames, bi focal made by D.C. Optimal Company. Stamped number on one of the bows is 5 1/3. One of the corners of the frame on both sides reads "Alum 46". The inside nose piece between the lens reads 1/10 12K GF 20". Glasses were completely intact.​

 

[MadMcGoo]

That seems like quite a long time to be carrying around a newspaper. I wonder if that particular issue held some significance to him.

Oct 29, 1970, page 27 - The Bismarck Tribune at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Bismarck Tribune dated Oct 29, 1970, page 27.

www.newspapers.com

Nov 05, 1970, page 3 - Steele County Press at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Steele County Press dated Nov 05, 1970, page 3.

www.newspapers.com

 

[phantomstrider]

That seems like quite a long time to be carrying around a newspaper. I wonder if that particular issue held some significance to him.

Oct 29, 1970, page 27 - The Bismarck Tribune at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The Bismarck Tribune dated Oct 29, 1970, page 27.

www.newspapers.com

Nov 05, 1970, page 3 - Steele County Press at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from Steele County Press dated Nov 05, 1970, page 3.

www.newspapers.com

The newspaper articles say he was 60-65 years old but namus says he was 47-53 years old. Is namus wrong or did they update the age range.

 

[MadMcGoo]

The newspaper articles say he was 60-65 years old but namus says he was 47-53 years old. Is namus wrong or did they update the age range.

I’d guess they’ve updated the estimate since the article was printed. Usually, the first printed media articles contained rough estimates based on cursory observations or examinations. Once further testing is done, a more specific range can sometimes be determined. That’s probably the case here.

When I’m searching for potential matches in older cases, especially, I take both ranges and combine them. So I wouldn’t necessarily dismiss a person who was 47 when they went missing or someone who was 65. JMO.

 

[Teamir]

Here is a railway map of ND, and I made a red circle approximately where he was found.

 

[heartanium]

I believe this is his grave at Page Cemetery in Cass County

 

[iulia]

His NamUs page is down at the moment.

 

[kforbes862]

This is great. It seems like a lot of different sets of remains are being identified recently.

 

[iulia]

Man identified nearly 55 years after his death when Cass County officials exhume body

Nearly 55 years after his suspicious death, the victim of a 1970 homicide investigation has been identified.

www.valleynewslive.com

[...]
With the help of genealogical and archival resources, investigators traced the denture back to a World War II enlistment record for William Howard Tate. They were able to positively identify the victim as Tate based on that record and subsequent analysis.

 

[The4TierBridge]

Was the denture plate not discovered during the original investigation? It seems like it was really easy to identify him once that had the info from its inscription because the time between exhumation and NamUs going down was just 6 days. I'd hate to think that he went unidentified for 55 years because nobody thought to look inside his mouth (which would mean he didn't have dental charting either).

I usually don't like poking holes in an investigation because I know this work is incredibly difficult to do, and the modern investigators did a great job!

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Join Ancestry

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www.ancestry.com

1970 mystery solved by Cass County Coroner and Missouri anthropology team

Remains of a man who died mysteriously 55 years ago near Page, N.D., have now been identified.

www.inforum.com

Based on the news article I listed above, I believe this is the William H Tate in question. He would've been ~56 at the time of his death. There are basically no records of him after WWII. His wife was living with her parents at the time of the 1950 census.