Resolved PA - Philadelphia (wooded area), Male, Multiple, adult<40, long brown hair, 5'7"-5'9", 100-130lbs., nightgown, 28 July 2022 - NamUs removed

[Xebeche]

#UP93857

28 July 2022
Philadelphia (Philadelphia County), Pennsylvania
Not found on Tribal Land
wooded area
6 weeks PMI

Male
Multiple: White / Caucasian; Hispanic / Latino; American Indian / Alaska Native; Hawaiian / Pacific Islander; Uncertain
Adult under 40 (23-38 est.)
5'7"-5'9"
100-130lbs.
Hair: brown, long, thin
Eyes: unknown
No bodily hair

All parts recovered
Not recognizable - Mummified

Clothing on the body: burgundy nightgown

Circumstances of Recovery: "Jogger states he occasionally sees a female who was living in the wooded area and today when jogging by noticed a smell coming from the area so alerted police when he got closer and saw an deceased individual."

No images

 

[LammyTheRobot]

#UP93857

28 July 2022
Philadelphia (Philadelphia County), Pennsylvania
Not found on Tribal Land
wooded area
6 weeks PMI

Male
Multiple: White / Caucasian; Hispanic / Latino; American Indian / Alaska Native; Hawaiian / Pacific Islander; Uncertain
Adult under 40 (23-38 est.)
5'7"-5'9"
100-130lbs.
Hair: brown, long, thin
Eyes: unknown
No bodily hair

All parts recovered
Not recognizable - Mummified

Clothing on the body: burgundy nightgown

Circumstances of Recovery: "Jogger states he occasionally sees a female who was living in the wooded area and today when jogging by noticed a smell coming from the area so alerted police when he got closer and saw an deceased individual."

No images

“Jogger states he occasionally sees a female who was living in the wooded area and today when jogging by noticed a smell coming from the area so alerted police when he got closer and saw an deceased individual.”

JMO but that’s a strange way to start a report of an unidentified decedent. By tangentially bringing up someone he used to see jogging there regularly.

 

[BigKeyManatee]

So, someone dressing and possibly identifying as a female is noticed multiple times by a jogger as likely “living rough” in the woods just off the road.
A foul odor leads the jogger to the transient’s campsite where a dead body is found. The body is in a mummified state but has long natural hair and is dressed in women’s nightclothes. Examination reveals the body is that of an adult male.
This seems like a possible case for the Trans Doe Task Force. They used to have a member presence on Websleuths but are now listed as former members.
Anyone here still in touch with them? TIA!

 

[victoriarobinson642]

So, someone dressing and possibly identifying as a female is noticed multiple times by a jogger as likely “living rough” in the woods just off the road.
A foul odor leads the jogger to the transient’s campsite where a dead body is found. The body is in a mummified state but has long natural hair and is dressed in women’s nightclothes. Examination reveals the body is that of an adult male.
This seems like a possible case for the Trans Doe Task Force. They used to have a member presence on Websleuths but are now listed as former members.
Anyone here still in touch with them? TIA!

I believe I submitted this case to them back when the decedent was added to NAMUS.

 

[BigKeyManatee]

I believe I submitted this case to them back when the decedent was added to NAMUS.

That’s great. Thank you.
Do you happen to know if they still have a presence on WS?

 

[victoriarobinson642]

That’s great. Thank you.
Do you happen to know if they still have a presence on WS?

The one member I know of that was on here was banned a year or so ago, unsure if any others are.

 

[Xebeche]

So, someone dressing and possibly identifying as a female is noticed multiple times by a jogger as likely “living rough” in the woods just off the road.
A foul odor leads the jogger to the transient’s campsite where a dead body is found. The body is in a mummified state but has long natural hair and is dressed in women’s nightclothes. Examination reveals the body is that of an adult male.
This seems like a possible case for the Trans Doe Task Force. They used to have a member presence on Websleuths but are now listed as former members.
Anyone here still in touch with them? TIA!

I wasn't sure if it was intentiinally implied that the "female" person the jogger used to see and the Unidentified person are the same individual, or if that was just the information surrounding the discovery. (it might be important to note the 'female' as a potential witness or someone who knew the decedent, for example, in that case).

I think that's a good theory.

I'd still believe it could be a different individual -- whether they were in a nightgown out of choice (transgender, comfort, whyever), necessity (a fellow rough sleeper or rough traveller who needed borrow clothing from the person known to have lived there), or whether they were made to wear it or it was put on after demise -- but that does make sense as well.

I wonder how well the jogger knew the person they used to see. Did they ever speak? Did they only see them from a distance? Does the decedent resemble the person who was observed living around there? Information from the jogger might help clear that up. Maybe there's an interview somewhere.

 

[ifindedout]

The coordinates given in NAMUS are a residential area. My guess is he was found either along Cobbs Creek or near the Schuylkill River in Bartram's Garden.

 

[Lwieckowicz]

I saw a missing persons report for a man named Donald Fredderick Harris who disappeared about 2 hours from where John Doe was found and whose daughter said she last talked to him two days prior to a possible sighting at a dollar store but according to her he wasn’t taking his meds, maybe that would explain the strange clothing if it were him?

 

[CCJD]

I saw a missing persons report for a man named Donald Fredderick Harris who disappeared about 2 hours from where John Doe was found and whose daughter said she last talked to him two days prior to a possible sighting at a dollar store but according to her he wasn’t taking his meds, maybe that would explain the strange clothing if it were him?

Missing Harrisburg man’s family concerned about foul play: ‘Not knowing hurts more than knowing’

Anyone who has seen 58-year-old Donald Harris or has information on his possible whereabouts should immediately call Harrisburg police at 717-558-6900.

www.pennlive.com

 

[Lwieckowicz]

Missing Harrisburg man’s family concerned about foul play: ‘Not knowing hurts more than knowing’

Anyone who has seen 58-year-old Donald Harris or has information on his possible whereabouts should immediately call Harrisburg police at 717-558-6900.

www.pennlive.com

The article said the Susquehanna River currents are unpredictable and in many cases people who entered the water in Harrisburg ended up in York or Lancaster counties and that they’d been searching the water fearing he may have been hallucinating or disoriented and fallen in. I thought it was compelling enough to submit it.

 

[iamshadow21]

Until fairly recent times, men and women both wore nightgowns. Though I think men's ones were called nightshirts? It's all a bit vague. I agree this could be a case with a trans or nonbinary decedent, but it's hard to tell without knowing whether the decedent and the woman the jogger saw are one and the same person.

The other thing to query is - is this a nightgown at all? I can see they can't tell race with any certainty. Could this be a piece of clothing from a culture where long 'dress-like' attire is the norm for men?

 

[Lwieckowicz]

Until fairly recent times, men and women both wore nightgowns. Though I think men's ones were called nightshirts? It's all a bit vague. I agree this could be a case with a trans or nonbinary decedent, but it's hard to tell without knowing whether the decedent and the woman the jogger saw are one and the same person.

The other thing to query is - is this a nightgown at all? I can see they can't tell race with any certainty. Could this be a piece of clothing from culture where long 'dress-like' attire is the norm for men?

I always take the info with a bit of a grain of salt because many times some of it or even a lot of it isn’t accurate or there’s just too much conjecture not to consider all the possibilities.

 

[iulia]

The NamUs page for this Doe has been removed.

 

[cheemsg]

Can anyone find any updates?