NM NM - Luna, UnkSex&Race UP91577, 24, skull in remote mountain area, shotgun, clothes, May'21

[Romulus]

Unidentified Person/NamUs #UP91577
Unsure, Uncertain
Date Body Found: May 31, 2021
Location Found: Luna, New Mexico
Estimated Age Range: 24 Years

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Circumstances of Recovery: Two teens were out hiking and came across a shotgun, shoes, long johns, jacket, and partial skull remains in a remote mountain area of Catron County.

 

[Teamir]

The Namus case is still open but I couldn’t locate any news articles or other info.

 

[Laughing]

This is somewhere in the Apache National Forest.

So few people live in the area -- the population density of Catron County is .5 people per square mile.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/catroncountynewmexico/PST045222

Statewide, New Mexico has 12 people per square mile. ( In contrast, Colorado had about 30 last time I checked, and Illinois -- over 200 people per square mile.)

Actually amazing that anyone found these remains at all, imho.

@Cracka*Jaxx can you find anything else?

RIP, Luna Decedent.

Thanks!

 

[iamshadow21]

Unidentified Person/NamUs #UP91577
Unsure, Uncertain
Date Body Found: May 31, 2021
Location Found: Luna, New Mexico
Estimated Age Range: 24 Years

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Circumstances of Recovery: Two teens were out hiking and came across a shotgun, shoes, long johns, jacket, and partial skull remains in a remote mountain area of Catron County.

Does anyone else think it's kind of odd that there's all that clothing left in place, but the only remains is the partial skull? I know animals and weather can displace and scatter remains, but usually, you get a concentration of them, especially if the subject is clothed when they died. And clothing often degrades in the elements or is caught by the wind or dragged by animals, too. Why so much clothing and only one fragment of bone? Why not foot bones in the shoes, at least?

MOO

 

[OddOneOut]

Does anyone else think it's kind of odd that there's all that clothing left in place, but the only remains is the partial skull? I know animals and weather can displace and scatter remains, but usually, you get a concentration of them, especially if the subject is clothed when they died. And clothing often degrades in the elements or is caught by the wind or dragged by animals, too. Why so much clothing and only one fragment of bone? Why not foot bones in the shoes, at least?

MOO

Maybe, the original site of the remains was up hill or up stream and rolled or were blown down.

 

[iamshadow21]

Maybe, the original site of the remains was up hill or up stream and rolled or were blown down.

But then, why the clothing and the shotgun? Clothing (excepting shoes) is relatively light. Shotguns are incredibly heavy. If you put one on the ground, it's staying where you put it, barring earthquake, landslide or flood, and even then, it's probably not moving far, just getting covered in more mobile silt, sediment and rock. Skulls do roll, they're known for it, but you wouldn't expect it to stay put with the shotgun while everything else, from the tiny finger and toe bones, to the ribs, vertebrae, long bones and pelvis goes missing. And the skull isn't intact, it's partial. Which can happen over time, or could be the result of damage from said shotgun, but where is the rest of everything? It's very strange.

I'd really like to know a PMI estimate on this one. If it wasn't for the clothing, given the scarcity of the remains, I'd guess decades. Shoes survive a lot, but longjohns? Hardly. A few years, maybe, but not decades. I'd be curious to know why they don't have a biological sex known. If the skull is partial, they may not be able to guess based on morphology, but DNA is the standard these days, so all I can assume is that they haven't tested DNA yet or they failed to get a good sample.

MOO

 

[Laughing]

We are unlikely to ever really know....

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up. Estimated age range is now 24 - 99 years old. I have hope a DNA profile could possibly be obtained from what they have.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Too bad there is no attempt to describe the clothing (shoe and jacket descriptions, for example).

There are a few men who went missing from the SW United States in the prior years known to have gone missing with a gun, but the description is handgun.

They are:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Here's a man who went missing in years prior who may have been depressed. Only mentioning because CO borders NM, and he went missing in winter, when someone might wear longjohns:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Also missing from CO and battled depression:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov