Identified! OR - Coquille, Snedden Creek, WhtMale 14-18, UP65766, Jul'71 - Winston Arthur Maxey III

[GJKJR]

"Coquille John Doe"
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Decomposing remains found in Snedden Creek outside of Coquille, Oregon, on July 29, 1971.
Sex: Male
Race: White/Caucasian
Estimated Age: Less than 20 years old (teenager)
Post-Mortem Interval: N/A
Height: 5'4" (64 inches) to 5'6" (66 inches)
Hair Description: Brown, long
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinctive Physical Characteristics: N/A
Clothing: N/A
​

 

[GJKJR]

Most of Ralph Hampton Miller's statistics match quite well to Coquille John Doe's known information, and the timing seems relatively sound. However, the circumstances are an issue — I have no idea how or why he would have traveled to Oregon.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[GJKJR]

Also, as a separate post because I can't edit the initial post anymore, I apologize for neglecting to mention Coquille John Doe's weight statistic. His estimated weight is 145-155 lbs.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Also, as a separate post because I can't edit the initial post anymore, I apologize for neglecting to mention Coquille John Doe's weight statistic. His estimated weight is 145-155 lbs.

Looks pretty good! I’ve always wondered what happened to Ralph! Height is off a bit but not significantly. I wonder what the PMI is for the UID? It almost seems as though a recon could have been made. It’s the early 70’s in both case and they’ve not been ruled out, I’d say they were close enough to submit!

Trying to think what other average sized teenage boy with long hair went missing during that time. I can think of 100 matching that description from the late 70s. Nice find!

 

[MadMcGoo]

I just found a couple that somewhat fit, but not all the circumstances.

James Charles Stanford
16 years old. Missing from Missouri since May 1971 after leaving home to join a convent in either Texas or California. His height is listed as 6’3”, but I’ve always wondered how accurate that was. For a 16 year old? I know it’s possible, I just wonder. 125 lbs, brown hair and green eyes. If the height were wrong, I’d say he was a good possibility if he did in fact make it to California. I think there were probably a few serial killers in the area during this time near there. (Although I can’t be certain he’d fit any of their victim profiles)

Michael Duane Burnett
14 years old. Missing from Oroville, California since March 1971. 6’0” (awfully tall seems like), 160 lbs., brown hair and eyes. He also previously had a lung removed and surgery scars so I’m sure that, and the height, would rule him out.

John Ronald Gould
21 year old Alaskan native presumably lost at sea since April 24, 1971. 5’3”, 140 lbs. dark hair & hazel eyes. Not sure if it’s even possible he could have made it across the ocean and up the Coquille River?

David William Adams
8 years old. Missing from Issaquah, Washington since May 1968, so he would have been 11 when the UID was found. A little young, and without PMI and knowing David’s vital stats would have changed a little in 3 years, it’s hard to tell on this one. He did have brown hair. I was going to say it was a direct path along I-5 but I guess most anyplace on the west coast would be. About a 7 hour drive.

James Richard Howell
Same with him. He went missing from Illinois in May 1969, so a little on the younger side; 11 at the time of discovery.

Steven Paul Lamb
17 years old. Missing from Seaside, Oregon since May 1968. 5’10”, 125 lbs., brown hair and hazel eyes. Probably too tall, but pretty close in proximity.

Alfred James Grimes
14 years old. Missing from Monterey, California since December 1968. 5’4”, 110 lbs, brown hair and eyes. He also went missing with another 14 year old boy, Sammy Lloyd Jackson. Sammy is a lot smaller than Alfred though. Both boys were day fishing and never returned.

Michael Lee Pickering
20 year old missing from Victorville, California since April 1971 after allegedly hitchhiking to San Francisco and not returning. If accurate, his height should eliminate him; 6’0”-6’1”, 130-140 lbs., strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. I just talked myself out of this one lol

None of those fit perfectly. I think Ralph is the best match. In case you decide to submit Ralph and like any of the others enough to mention. I wonder if he could have come from Canada? I only searched NamUs, not any of the other databases yet though. I wish it specified approximately how long the UID had been deceased. That might help out some. IMO

ETA: I don’t know what I was looking at, but Ralph’s height is in range, 5’5”-5’10”. My apologies!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Here’s a maybe from Charley Project

Earl Lee Dannels – The Charley Project
19 years old. Missing from Albany, California since October 1969. 5’9”, 150 lbs., brown hair and blue eyes.

 

[GJKJR]

Looks pretty good! I’ve always wondered what happened to Ralph! Height is off a bit but not significantly. I wonder what the PMI is for the UID? It almost seems as though a recon could have been made. It’s the early 70’s in both case and they’ve not been ruled out, I’d say they were close enough to submit!

Trying to think what other average sized teenage boy with long hair went missing during that time. I can think of 100 matching that description from the late 70s. Nice find!

I do wish there was some PMI provided, but at least we can get a decent guess from the fact that they could estimate his weight and tell he had long brown hair. I doubt it'd be much longer than, say, 8 months? That's a very rough estimate.

I just found a couple that somewhat fit, but not all the circumstances.

James Charles Stanford
16 years old. Missing from Missouri since May 1971 after leaving home to join a convent in either Texas or California. His height is listed as 6’3”, but I’ve always wondered how accurate that was. For a 16 year old? I know it’s possible, I just wonder. 125 lbs, brown hair and green eyes. If the height were wrong, I’d say he was a good possibility if he did in fact make it to California. I think there were probably a few serial killers in the area during this time near there. (Although I can’t be certain he’d fit any of their victim profiles)

Michael Duane Burnett
14 years old. Missing from Oroville, California since March 1971. 6’0” (awfully tall seems like), 160 lbs., brown hair and eyes. He also previously had a lung removed and surgery scars so I’m sure that, and the height, would rule him out.

John Ronald Gould
21 year old Alaskan native presumably lost at sea since April 24, 1971. 5’3”, 140 lbs. dark hair & hazel eyes. Not sure if it’s even possible he could have made it across the ocean and up the Coquille River?

David William Adams
8 years old. Missing from Issaquah, Washington since May 1968, so he would have been 11 when the UID was found. A little young, and without PMI and knowing David’s vital stats would have changed a little in 3 years, it’s hard to tell on this one. He did have brown hair. I was going to say it was a direct path along I-5 but I guess most anyplace on the west coast would be. About a 7 hour drive.

James Richard Howell
Same with him. He went missing from Illinois in May 1969, so a little on the younger side; 11 at the time of discovery.

Steven Paul Lamb
17 years old. Missing from Seaside, Oregon since May 1968. 5’10”, 125 lbs., brown hair and hazel eyes. Probably too tall, but pretty close in proximity.

Alfred James Grimes
14 years old. Missing from Monterey, California since December 1968. 5’4”, 110 lbs, brown hair and eyes. He also went missing with another 14 year old boy, Sammy Lloyd Jackson. Sammy is a lot smaller than Alfred though. Both boys were day fishing and never returned.

Michael Lee Pickering
20 year old missing from Victorville, California since April 1971 after allegedly hitchhiking to San Francisco and not returning. If accurate, his height should eliminate him; 6’0”-6’1”, 130-140 lbs., strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. I just talked myself out of this one lol

None of those fit perfectly. I think Ralph is the best match. In case you decide to submit Ralph and like any of the others enough to mention. I wonder if he could have come from Canada? I only searched NamUs, not any of the other databases yet though. I wish it specified approximately how long the UID had been deceased. That might help out some. IMO

ETA: I don’t know what I was looking at, but Ralph’s height is in range, 5’5”-5’10”. My apologies!

I didn't think of UID being from Canada before. That's a route that should be investigated, IMO. It's definitely a possibility.

I think James Charles Stanford is a good possible. 6'3" and 125 lbs would be a BMI of around 15.6, which is deep into the "underweight" category; while it's possible, I have my doubts. If the height were to be adjusted downwards, then most of the details of his case would be a good fit - the detail about him possibly going to California to join a convent is interesting, too.

Michael Lee Pickering's statistics would fit too - except the height difference, which is hard to rationalize, and the hair color, which, from the pictures we have, could be confused for a brown-ish color. NamUs states Pickering's right ear is deformed, which could be a big deal for this comparison or not depending on how noticeable said deformity is.

Steven Paul Lamb seems like a slightly farfetched possibility, but still noteworthy. Seaside, Oregon is approximately 5 hours away from Coquille, Oregon, and Coquille is close to US 101, which runs through Seaside.

 

[MadMcGoo]

I do wish there was some PMI provided, but at least we can get a decent guess from the fact that they could estimate his weight and tell he had long brown hair. I doubt it'd be much longer than, say, 8 months? That's a very rough estimate.



I didn't think of UID being from Canada before. That's a route that should be investigated, IMO. It's definitely a possibility.

I think James Charles Stanford is a good possible. 6'3" and 125 lbs would be a BMI of around 15.6, which is deep into the "underweight" category; while it's possible, I have my doubts. If the height were to be adjusted downwards, then most of the details of his case would be a good fit - the detail about him possibly going to California to join a convent is interesting, too.

Michael Lee Pickering's statistics would fit too - except the height difference, which is hard to rationalize, and the hair color, which, from the pictures we have, could be confused for a brown-ish color. NamUs states Pickering's right ear is deformed, which could be a big deal for this comparison or not depending on how noticeable said deformity is.

Steven Paul Lamb seems like a slightly farfetched possibility, but still noteworthy. Seaside, Oregon is approximately 5 hours away from Coquille, Oregon, and Coquille is close to US 101, which runs through Seaside.

I tried looking through some Canadian missing, but didn’t find anyone that stood out. James Charles Stanford’s height has always bothered me. He’s come up in other UID cases and the only thing ever off is the height. Either it’s reported wrong, or we just haven’t found him. I do think Ralph and James are the two best we’ve found so far. I do wonder about John Gould from Alaska. I guess it would also be nice to know a little bit about his discovery. Was he in a field, do they suspect foul play, clothing, etc.? I’ll be keeping an eye out for this one. And you’re probably right about PMI, probably not too much past a year at most. (IMO)

 

[GJKJR]

I tried looking through some Canadian missing, but didn’t find anyone that stood out. James Charles Stanford’s height has always bothered me. He’s come up in other UID cases and the only thing ever off is the height. Either it’s reported wrong, or we just haven’t found him. I do think Ralph and James are the two best we’ve found so far. I do wonder about John Gould from Alaska. I guess it would also be nice to know a little bit about his discovery. Was he in a field, do they suspect foul play, clothing, etc.? I’ll be keeping an eye out for this one. And you’re probably right about PMI, probably not too much past a year at most. (IMO)

I was thinking a bit about John Gould too, but looking at surface current maps, I doubt that his body would have ended up in Snedden Creek. The surface currents in the area Gould's boat went missing from travel decidedly westward toward the far western Aleutians, then eventually the Kamchatka Peninsula area of Russia. I tried to do some rough measurements of the distance between King Cove, AK, and Coquille, OR, along the surface currents, and I don't think it would be entirely impossible for remains to travel that far a distance, but regardless, I think it's rather unlikely that he would've ended up there.

Also, I don't know why I didn't mention Earl Lee Dannels; he seems like a good potential match as well. There's so little information that discerning what the circumstances of his disappearance were is difficult, and his basic statistics are very close. Timeline is a bit off, but again, with so little information on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, it's difficult to make any conclusions or guesses.

I may try to dig up some newspaper articles on this John Doe soon. I'm curious about this case as well, and it would be nice to have some more information or clarification.

 

[GJKJR]

Can anyone with a Newspapers.com subscription clip this, please? I can't get the free trial again, so I'm outta luck.

30 Jul 1971, 5 - The World at Newspapers.com

 

[MadMcGoo]

Can anyone with a Newspapers.com subscription clip this, please? I can't get the free trial again, so I'm outta luck.

30 Jul 1971, 5 - The World at Newspapers.com

Never hesitate to ask me to clip something BTW! I don’t mind one bit!


eta: Earl Lee does look good...if we knew more.

 

[GJKJR]

Never hesitate to ask me to clip something BTW! I don’t mind one bit!
View attachment 237947

eta: Earl Lee does look good...if we knew more.

Thanks a bunch! Doesn't provide too much new information (besides that the decedent was badly decomposed, and they were presumably found closer to Libby, OR?), but I do wonder who they ruled out...

 

[MadMcGoo]

How about this one!

Thomas Harold Jeschke – The Charley Project

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Just bumping up. Did any of you end up submitting any possibilities, out of curiosity?

This poor kid from all the way back in 1971... Does he still have family? Was he reported missing? Was he from Oregon? Who was he?

 

[Sandchic]

Hello all,
This is my first post so be gentle.. I was wondering if I missed additional info describing the length of decomposition time the victim had before discovery? What do you guys think of these names? There is no reported missing male that fits this timeline from Oregon. I’m considering California and Idaho. Admittedly, I do not know the disappearance circumstances. Info appreciated!
Additional info on the Missing Alaskan man from another post here that might help you.
I live in the area and I can tell you without hesitation, this is/was a huge logging port. Log raft was the main way of mass log transport until I wana say the 80’s. Hundreds of men walked the floating rafts everyday and the surrounding woods and a floating body would have been seen miles down flow towards the ocean. The towns of Charleston, North Bend, and Coos Bay sit on the ocean/bay/river and border each other without a gap. If the site is where I visited, There is zero chance that remains from Alaska came that far up the river and flowed up a non tidal tributary. However, that gentleman may have made it to port on another vessel and landed in the area or was rescued by our US Coast Guard stationed here? Specifically, Charleston Oregon, also known as Coos Bay, Or. is the major shipping port south of Portland, Or and north of San Francisco, Ca. Countless people migrated to Washington, Alaska back and forth. Libby Ln is a natural travel path from the ocean to the site still traveled for that purpose today. Keep in mind Libby connects to Shinglehouse Rd which connects to Hwy 101 N and S ( 3.5-4 hours from California Border) and 42E it is the only major way in or out to town.. Love to know what you guys think..

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Snedden Creek John Doe now has a Parabon reconstruction. Glad to see his case moving in the right direction.

 

[snowgoose]

I believe the details of Coquille John Doe's clothing are also newly added to NamUs.

Clothing
Turtleneck shirt, long sleeve -- On the Body

"Wrangler" brand blue denim jeans, with leather strap criss-cross stitched along the outseam of both left and right legs. -- Near the Body

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

One ruleout:

MP52140
Howard Kley
26/01/1966

 

[Skyval]

I believe he has been identified. Saw this this morning.

After 50 years, remains of missing Idaho teen identified on Oregon Coast

 

[JerseyGirl]

I believe he has been identified. Saw this this morning.

After 50 years, remains of missing Idaho teen identified on Oregon Coast

In 1971, Winston Arthur Maxey III left his home in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 15.

After talking with a friend in Boise, Winston had learned there were job opportunities in Oregon and made a plan to hitchhike to the coast.

He told his sister he was going to Coos Bay - and in the spring of 1971, 15-year-old Winston left home.

Family members reported they had never heard from Winston again, not knowing if he arrived in Oregon.