NM NM - Socorro, MultMales, Adult, passengers in vehicle crash - May 1980

[MadMcGoo]

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

UP147368 & UP1458407


Date Body Found: UP145407: May 5, 1980 UP147368: May 9, 1980
Location Found: Socorro, Socorro County, New Mexico

Biological Sex: Males
Race / Ethnicity: Multiple: White / Caucasian, Hispanic / Latino
Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton
Estimated Age Group:
UP145407: Adult
UP147368: Cannot Determine
Height:
UP145407: 5'6" (66 inches) Measured
UP147368: Cannot Estimate
Weight:
UP145407: 145 lbs. Measured
UP147368: Cannot Estimate
Hair Color:
UP145407: Brown
UP147368: Unknown
Eye Color:
UP145407: Brown
UP147368: Unknown

Circumstances of Recovery: A truck traveling in a rural area near Socorro overturned and entered a canal. Decedent (UP145407) was a passenger in the back of the truck. The truck was pulled approximately 150 yards underwater with the passenger in the bed. UP147368 is described as being a passenger in the truck.

Investigating Agencies:
New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (505) 272-3053
Agency Case Number: 1980-02408 (UP145407) 1980-02418 (UP1473698)
New Mexico State Police (575) 461-3300

 

[MadMcGoo]

UP147368 & UP1458407 Unidentified Males 1980 NM

Clipping found in The Albuquerque Tribune published in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 5/5/1980. UP147368 & UP1458407 Unidentified Males 1980 NM

www.newspapers.com

I'm pretty sure this is them, although it puts the accident about 25-30 miles north of Socorro, closer to Belen.

 

[iulia]

UP147368 & UP1458407 Unidentified Males 1980 NM

Clipping found in The Albuquerque Tribune published in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 5/5/1980. UP147368 & UP1458407 Unidentified Males 1980 NM

www.newspapers.com

I'm pretty sure this is them, although it puts the accident about 25-30 miles north of Socorro, closer to Belen.

Could the date on NamUs be incorrect? I see the clipping you linked has the date of 5/5/1980 and the Does were found 4 days later, on May 9, per NamUs. The article says the truck crushed on a Sunday, but May 9, 1980 was on a Friday according to Google, but I don't know how accurate that is.

Another thing that makes me question the NamUs listings is that both Does are listed as "Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton", but for UP145407 they give his measured weight, height, and eye color, so he couldn't have been nearly skeletonized. For UP147368 all this information is unknown, not even an estimated age group.

The difference between the condition of two Does who were found at the same time seems interesting to me. Could one of them have been deceased for a longer time than the other, or is it just an error when filing their information on NamUs?

 

[MadMcGoo]

Could the date on NamUs be incorrect? I see the clipping you linked has the date of 5/5/1980 and the Does were found 4 days later, on May 9, per NamUs. The article says the truck crushed on a Sunday, but May 9, 1980 was on a Friday according to Google, but I don't know how accurate that is.

Another thing that makes me question the NamUs listings is that both Does are listed as "Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton", but for UP145407 they give his measured weight, height, and eye color, so he couldn't have been nearly skeletonized. For UP147368 all this information is unknown, not even an estimated age group.

The difference between the condition of two Does who were found at the same time seems interesting to me. Could one of them have been deceased for a longer time than the other, or is it just an error when filing their information on NamUs?

The only explanation I could think of for the discrepancies is that the cases were entered into NamUs at different times (one in June of this year and the other in July), and possibly by different people. UP145407 has more specific vitals and is listed as being found on May 5th. UP147368 is the one with mostly 'unknown' vitals and listed as being found on May 9th.

It sounds to me like the accident involved 6 men and occurred on May 4th. Four of the men must have been identified, as far as we know. The article says 4 men were swept through the culvert, but 2 were trapped. Maybe one of the two they pulled from the culvert on the 5th was identified, and of the 4 that were swept away (doesn't say when they were discovered, so it could have been the 9th), one was never identified. I'm not sure, honestly.

 

[iulia]

The only explanation I could think of for the discrepancies is that the cases were entered into NamUs at different times (one in June of this year and the other in July), and possibly by different people. UP145407 has more specific vitals and is listed as being found on May 5th. UP147368 is the one with mostly 'unknown' vitals and listed as being found on May 9th.

It sounds to me like the accident involved 6 men and occurred on May 4th. Four of the men must have been identified, as far as we know. The article says 4 men were swept through the culvert, but 2 were trapped. Maybe one of the two they pulled from the culvert on the 5th was identified, and of the 4 that were swept away (doesn't say when they were discovered, so it could have been the 9th), one was never identified. I'm not sure, honestly.

It makes sense the way you described it. And thank you for the correction, I missed that one of the Does has May 5 as the date of discovery. I hope they’ll come back and add more details in time. I appreciate that they seem to be quite active lately in adding and removing Does in New Mexico.