NJ NJ - Lawrence, UncMale 17-25, UP1768, poss left-handed, sickle cell anemia, Nov'79

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  • #1
March 7, 2019
State police seek public's assistance in solving 1979 Cumberland County cold case
DOWNE TWP. - New Jersey State Police are hoping the public can help them solve a nearly 40-year-old Cumberland County cold case.

State police along with the Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office have developed this image of an unidentified man authorities say was found dead in Downe Township on Nov. 21, 1979.

Authorities say the man's remains were discovered in a wooded area near Hall Street in the Newport section of Downe and his death was ruled a homicide.

State police said the victim was "possibly biracial or of Mediterranean descent" and believed to be between 17 and 25 years old.
 
  • #2

Police Hope New Image Will Help Solve Decades-Old Murder Case
In the early 1970s, a man's body ended up in a wooded area of a small New Jersey town. How it got there, no one knows. His skull had been pierced by a bullet, and his body lay there for years before being found.

The discovery finally came in 1979, but for more than 40 years, this man remained nameless - and faceless. Now police have finally put a face to their mystery man, and they're hoping the public can help them identify him in order to solve the cold case murder.

New Jersey State Police Detective John Weber said the man's body was found Nov. 21, 1979 in Downe Township, in Cumberland County. But because only his skeleton was discovered, it's likely he had been laying there for years prior.

"Being that it's skeletal remains, they're not sure of an actual time of death. It could have been as early as the early 1970s or 1974," Weber said.

Back in those days, technological limitations meant officials could not piece together an image of the body before them.

But a lot has changed in the nearly 40 years since.
 
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The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Here's the NamUS profile for this John Doe. He looks like he has quite a distinct appearance, can't recall having seen many people looking like that before but maybe it's just me.
From link, thanks..
"Height 5' 9"(69 inches) , Measured"

"Circumstances of Recovery Ancestry is Negroid/Caucasoid mixed Found in wooded area near county road #629 of Lawrence Township, NJ, Cumberland County, NJ."

"Possibly left handed as per Anthropology report."

"Clothing
Deteriorated fabric, shirt"
rbbm.
 
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Weird, I don't know how they could have determined he was possibly left-handed.
 
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Weird, I don't know how they could have determined he was possibly left-handed.
rbbm
Aug 22 1989
BONE EXPERT TO EXAMINE SKELETON
"A person`s sex, age and race are only part of the detective novel written in the bones. Examination of upper arm bones reveals whether a person was right or left handed (the wider bone is on the dominant side). Forensic anthropologists can determine past health and nutritional problems, learn if a female had children, make a good guess at their occupation, estimate when the person died and look for evidence of foul play, such a bullet marks or broken bones.

To determine race, forensic anthropologists scrutinize the shape of the skull. ''The face is really the best indicator of race,'' said Robert Mann, a forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution. ''Some people say the face is the only place you can determine race.''

The skulls of blacks tend to have a wider nasal openings and wider distance between the eyes than Caucasians. Blacks also have more of an overbite between the upper and lower jaws than whites, Mann said.

Blacks have a long skull, while an American Indian`s skull is flat across the face.

In the past experts identified Indian skeletons by taking a close look at their teeth. ''One thing that`s a sure give-away for an Indian is the teeth are usually heavily worn,''
 
  • #7

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rbbm
Aug 22 1989
BONE EXPERT TO EXAMINE SKELETON
"A person`s sex, age and race are only part of the detective novel written in the bones. Examination of upper arm bones reveals whether a person was right or left handed (the wider bone is on the dominant side). Forensic anthropologists can determine past health and nutritional problems, learn if a female had children, make a good guess at their occupation, estimate when the person died and look for evidence of foul play, such a bullet marks or broken bones.

To determine race, forensic anthropologists scrutinize the shape of the skull. ''The face is really the best indicator of race,'' said Robert Mann, a forensic anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution. ''Some people say the face is the only place you can determine race.''

The skulls of blacks tend to have a wider nasal openings and wider distance between the eyes than Caucasians. Blacks also have more of an overbite between the upper and lower jaws than whites, Mann said.

Blacks have a long skull, while an American Indian`s skull is flat across the face.

In the past experts identified Indian skeletons by taking a close look at their teeth. ''One thing that`s a sure give-away for an Indian is the teeth are usually heavily worn,''

Ah, that makes sense. It would be interesting if we knew what hand missing persons used. Of course, that isn't mentioned much if at all in most missing person reports, probably because of how specific it is and/or how that usually isn't covered/that detail usually isn't released after an autopsy. But something like left-handedness could definitely be an identifying characteristic or one that could easily narrow down the potential matches, I believe that being left-handed and born to right-handers has around a 10% chance of occurring.
 
  • #10

Police Hope New Image Will Help Solve Decades-Old Murder Case
In the early 1970s, a man's body ended up in a wooded area of a small New Jersey town. How it got there, no one knows. His skull had been pierced by a bullet, and his body lay there for years before being found.

The discovery finally came in 1979, but for more than 40 years, this man remained nameless - and faceless. Now police have finally put a face to their mystery man, and they're hoping the public can help them identify him in order to solve the cold case murder.

New Jersey State Police Detective John Weber said the man's body was found Nov. 21, 1979 in Downe Township, in Cumberland County. But because only his skeleton was discovered, it's likely he had been laying there for years prior.

"Being that it's skeletal remains, they're not sure of an actual time of death. It could have been as early as the early 1970s or 1974," Weber said.

Back in those days, technological limitations meant officials could not piece together an image of the body before them.

But a lot has changed in the nearly 40 years since.

I wonder if there is any particular reason the detective mentioned 1974 specifically.
 
  • #11
  • #12
EYPRYSYQGZGFNJVJSLJD5MS7PA.jpg

He was a young man, somewhere between 17 and 25 years old, when he died in the 1970s.

He suffered a gunshot wound to the head and his death was labeled a homicide.

No one had reported him missing and no one stepped forward when his remains were found in a wooded area in Cumberland County.

Did anyone mourn his loss?

Somewhere, he had parents, maybe brothers and sisters, a few friends and a life.

He also had a name. We just don’t know it yet.
Cops hope this face will help crack a 40-year-old unsolved murder case
 
  • #13
This MP is the wrong race (Native American) but something about him reminds me of the sketch:

Original


EYPRYSYQGZGFNJVJSLJD5MS7PA.jpg


Gary Locklear was only 15 when he disappeared from SC in 1974: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
I think his nose and jawline are similar. MOO.

(If anyone thinks he's a possibility, please send it in. I'm only going to suggest here. Thanks)
 
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Not particularly confident in the skeletal findings or accuracy in sketch from skeletal findings so putting these 2 out there. I think 1 is too young and the other had a chipped tooth that isn’t mentioned on the UID so not particularly likely. Location and time frame ok.

STEVEN ANDERSON | Federal Bureau of Investigation
 
  • #20

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