SC SC - Pineville, BlkMale UnkAge, UP126269, charred, gold tooth, found in an open coal railcar from PA, Jun'24

[ProudSuggestion3528]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
NamUs: UP126269
UID Black/African American Male
Pineville, SC

Case Numbers​

ME/C Case Number: 24-0846

Demographics​

Biological Sex: Male
Race / Ethnicity: Black / African American
Estimated Age Group: Adult
Estimated Year of Death: 2024
Height: 5' 5"-5' 7"(65-67 inches) , Estimated
Weight: Cannot Estimate

Circumstances​

Type: Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found: June 2, 2024
NamUs Case Created: July 24, 2024

Location Found Map​

Location: Pineville, South Carolina 29468
County: Berkeley County
Found On Tribal Land: No
Circumstances of Recovery: The remains were located in a open coal train car at the Pineville Santee Cooper Plant. Employees located the remains as they were dumping the coal. The train car came from Philadelphia, PA.

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Details of Recovery

Condition of Remains: Not recognizable - Charred/burned

Physical Description​

Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown

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Distinctive Physical Features​

Other Distinctive Physical Characteristic: Single Gold tooth on bottom, front

Clothing and Accessories​

No Information Entered

Media Coverage​

Officials investigating human remains found at Berkeley Co. coal yard

An investigation is underway after human skeletal remains were found at a coal yard in Berkeley County Sunday afternoon.

www.live5news.com

"BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - An investigation is underway after human skeletal remains were found at a coal yard in Berkeley County Sunday afternoon.

Berkeley County Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call about possible human remains being found at the Santee Cooper-Cross Generating Station coal yard at 3:15 p.m., Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell said.

Hartwell confirmed the remains belonged to a man, and an autopsy was scheduled for June 6. He said DNA samples have been sent to the State Law Enforcement Division to help identify the remains."

0 Rule Outs/MP Exclusions as of 7.31.2024​

 

[Carolina-Blue-Clues]

I just came across this case on NamUs. My first thought was maybe the remains belong to an employee from the mine the coal originated from. In light of that, I've been trying to figure out which coal mines import to Santee Cooper via Philadelphia, but it unfortunately seems like a fairly wide net to cast.

The Cross Generating Station is apparently one of the largest power stations in the nation, and despite being able to track down a list of it's source mines, none of them seem to be located in Pennsylvania. This list could be incorrect or outdated, or the coal in the train car could have been mined somewhere else, but transported on a train car leaving out of Philadelphia.

I also looked into recent missing person's cases out of Philadelphia to see if there were any with a mention of a gold tooth as a distinguishing characteristic. So far, I haven't had luck on that front either.

This case just seems like it should be solvable, especially with the inclusion of the gold tooth being found in the bottom front of their mouth. I know I'll definitely be wracking my brain on it for a while.

Ultimately, I hope someone sees the story and that detail and is able to gain some peace.

 

[Carolina-Blue-Clues]

I just came across this case on NamUs. My first thought was maybe the remains belong to an employee from the mine the coal originated from. In light of that, I've been trying to figure out which coal mines import to Santee Cooper via Philadelphia, but it unfortunately seems like a fairly wide net to cast.

The Cross Generating Station is apparently one of the largest power stations in the nation, and despite being able to track down a list of it's source mines, none of them seem to be located in Pennsylvania. This list could be incorrect or outdated, or the coal in the train car could have been mined somewhere else, but transported on a train car leaving out of Philadelphia.

I also looked into recent missing person's cases out of Philadelphia to see if there were any with a mention of a gold tooth as a distinguishing characteristic. So far, I haven't had luck on that front either.

This case just seems like it should be solvable, especially with the inclusion of the gold tooth being found in the bottom front of their mouth. I know I'll definitely be wracking my brain on it for a while.

Ultimately, I hope someone sees the story and that detail and is able to gain some peace.

I'm still learning my way around this site, so I'm not sure if I should reply to my first post or make a new one beneath it.

Update: From what I can gather, Cross Generating Station has been running off of subbituminous coal since 2016. Subbituminous coal is a different quality and considered "softer" than that of anthracite coal, which is considered to be higher quality (from a power standpoint). Anthracite coal from Pennsylvania is typically mined in the state's Anthracite Coal Region, located near Philadelphia (who knew?). However, because Cross Generating Station has apparently only used subbituminous coal for power since 2016, the coal itself wouldn't be coming from a mine in Philadelphia, but more likely somewhere nearer to the Pittsburgh region.

I'm thinking this person could have ended up falling in with the coal when the trucks were being loaded at the mine (assuming this is a possibility, I'm not at all knowledgable about the process of mining), or they somehow ended up in the train car with the coal, either due to foul play or a tragic accident, along the train's route to Cross Generating Station.

I still haven't had any luck locating missing persons reports for individuals with a bottom gold tooth in Pennsylvania. It's also worth mentioning that I'm still not sure whether the coal itself came from a mine in Pennsylvania, or if only the train car did. Once again, I know basically nothing about industrial logistics.

TL;DR: I somehow know both less than I did before and much more.