OR OR - Prineville, WhtMale 30-60, UP10880, Jack Daniel's belt buckle, Canadian cigs, Mar'88

[CarlK90245]

My brother-in-law (who, with my sister, lives near Tumalo, OR) sent me an article from the 27-Nov-2011 edition of the The Bulletin, a newspaper distributed in the Bend/Redmond area of Oregon. The article is primarily about the 1973 unsolved murder of 17-year old Susan Wickersham, but goes on to list 17 other unsolved murders, missing person cases, and one UID case.

The story is at the link, but you have to pay 75 cents to see it.
https://circulation.bendbulletin.co.../pbcs.dll/login&AID=20111127/NEWS01/111270378

The UID Case caught my attention because it is not listed either in DoeNetwork or NamUs.

All that is available on this UID is as follows:

Oregon State Police
541-388-6213

John Doe

An off-duty state trooper and his wife found skeletal remains while hiking below Rimrock south of Prineville on March 31, 1988. Near the bones were a short-billed cap, a large Jack Daniels belt buckle and some Canadian cigarettes. The remains haven't been identified.

 

[EmmaliLucia]

I'm going to go ahead and bump this...

This seems like it'd be somewhat easy to solve thanks to DoeNetwork and Namus, could be wrong though.

 

[CarlK90245]

There is now a NamUs casefile for this UID:

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/10880

 

[EmmaliLucia]

Now that I've seen NamUs and their details I'ma make a list.


These are all people from Oregon
Jerry Dale Smith
Missing since Christmas Eve, 1986
Brown Hair, 5'10 (Doe's estimated height was 5'9), 36 years old (Would have been 37-38 by the approx date of death)


Gordon Bethel Lopez
Missing since Jan 3rd, 1986
Brown hair, 6'0-6'3 (So about 3-6 inches taller than the estimated height, but considering they have a range, it's probably estimated on the MP side, too.) 21 years old (22-23 at approx. Date of death) so he's also a little young


Kerby Allen Bessey
Missing since August 28th, 1986
Brown hair, 5'11, 27 (28-29) I'd count his age in the range.


Russell Curtis Brooks
Missing since June 1985
Blonde hair, 5'10, 24 (27-28)


Howard Ben Dearmom
Missing since Dec, 1987
Brown hair, 6'1, 50


Daniel Joseph Hilkey
Missing since Jan 22nd, 1985
Brown hair, 5'8, 38 (40-41)

 

[Redwood146]

Well here's my 2 cents worth. I think Jerry Dale Smith looks like he could wear a Jack Daniels belt, the distance between where he was last seen and the body was found is not to far about. Also if he was murdered it would seem a good place to leave the body.

But I also think it could be Gordon Bethal Lopez, although he did not say he was intending to take his own life in the goodbye letter to his mother, its would seem likely he intended to do so. A quiet off the beaten track spot such as where the body was found would fit the bill if you were intent in taking your own life. Also those jack daniel belts were popular with some college students back in 1980's.

 

[carbuff]

Jerry Dale Smith looks like a very likely match.

 

[EmmaliLucia]

I think that everyone in those pictures would wear a Jack Daniels belt buckle, even Hilkey (In his second picture). The question is which ones look like they'd wear moon boots?


ETA. Also, Which ones would be wearing a St. Christopher's medal?

 

[Redwood146]

From the description of the clothing and hat..... it would seem more likely to be some one hunting?

 

[CarlK90245]

The key clue here is the Canadian cigarettes with the Canadian tax stamp on the pack.

Unless he got the cirgarettes from someone else, he must have been in Canada shortly before his death, and a strong possibility that he came from Canada.

 

[EmmaliLucia]

From the description of the clothing and hat..... it would seem more likely to be some one hunting?

That's what I was thinking, he might not even be an Oregonian, The wilderness out here attracts people from everywhere.

 

[carbuff]

The key clue here is the Canadian cigarettes with the Canadian tax stamp on the pack.

Unless he got the cirgarettes from someone else, he must have been in Canada shortly before his death, and a strong possibility that he came from Canada.

Or Alaskan. Lots of travel along the coast from Alaska to the Pacific Northwest via Vancouver.

 

[CarlK90245]

There's nothing about the manner of death. Suicide? Homicide? Accidental fall?

He had shotgun shells with him but no mention of a shotgun.

I was thinking that if he was Canadian, getting across the border with a firearm might be a little dicey.

 

[carbuff]

There's nothing about the manner of death. Suicide? Homicide? Accidental fall?

He had shotgun shells with him but no mention of a shotgun.

I was thinking that if he was Canadian, getting across the border with a firearm might be a little dicey.

Probably not much of an issue in 1988.

 

[CarlK90245]

Probably not much of an issue in 1988.

I know a guy who tried to enter Canada in a mobile home back in the 1980's and didn't declare the revolver that he had inside. They waved him aside and searched the mobile home and found the gun. He was arrested and the gun was confiscated.

Had he declared the gun, they still would have taken the gun, but would have given it back to him upon return to the U.S.

 

[EmmaliLucia]

O! CANADA! Eh?

David Glenn Harrington
Missing since April 1, 1986 from Vancouver, British Columbia
Brown hair, 5'9, 28 (About 29 at Aprox date of death)
He has severe emotional problems which keep him from settling down.



Rodney Leonard Sloat
Missing since November 30, 1986 from Ardrossan, Alberta
Brown hair, 6'2, 31 (32)
Just click that link, look at that picture, and TELL me that man does not wear Jack Daniels belt buckles with moon boots.



Robert Plewes
Missing since June 30, 1984 from Toronto, Ontario
Brown hair, 5'10, 20 (23)
It's so unlikely to be him, but he had loads of hunting and survival gear on him



David Nixon
Missing since July 6, 1984 from Hamilton, Ontario
Brown hair, 5'10, 23 (26)
"There was some speculation that David may have traveled to England to visit with a female friend that he had been exchanging letters with. David had left unexpectedly once before to visit British Columbia. Upon his arrival, David contacted his family. David had a very good relationship with his family and it is very uncharacteristic for him to not be in contact with them."
So he has a history of just taking off, last time was to British Columbia (Which, coincidentally, is like Oregon's toupee)



Kelvin Philip Norris
Missing since November 27, 1984 from Bath, Ontario
Brown hair, 5'8-5'10, 22 (24-25)

 

[Redwood146]

emmaliLucia,
I can so see Rodney Sloat wearing Jack Daniel belt buckles and moon boots.
But interestingly David Nixon had spent some time in the United States in 1982. Had he gone back again and things turned sour? I wonder if we can find out if these missing guys ( all of them mentioned) smoked? That could eliminate some of the men.

 

[Ardeaa]

If he was from Canada he must have had some reason to be in Oregon.. friends, family, job...? He didn't go there for wilderness... there's tons more wilderness in Canada than in the US.

 

[Magnum P.E.]

This case is the Mr. Bones of the west, except fortunately Mr. Bones's remains are still preserved.

This body was cremated, no prints and no DNA. Even if you were pretty sure who he was, how could you prove it?

 

[carbuff]

I know a guy who tried to enter Canada in a mobile home back in the 1980's and didn't declare the revolver that he had inside. They waved him aside and searched the mobile home and found the gun. He was arrested and the gun was confiscated.

Had he declared the gun, they still would have taken the gun, but would have given it back to him upon return to the U.S.

Hm, I know people who regularly traveled across the Montana/Alberta border with hunting weapons. A revolver might be a different issue, or maybe there was a question of licensing. Or maybe my friends just never got caught

 

[carbuff]

If he was from Canada he must have had some reason to be in Oregon.. friends, family, job...? He didn't go there for wilderness... there's tons more wilderness in Canada than in the US.

Yeah, but people who are into wilderness often like to see other people's wildernesses, too.