General Information
Date of Discovery - 11/01/1978 (
The NamUs file indicates that the remains were discovered on July 1, but comparison with newspaper coverage suggests that the correct date is November 1)
Location of Discovery – Medicine Mountain, Pennington County, South Dakota
Estimated Date of Death – Late 1977 - Early 1978
State of Remains - Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
Cause of Death - Possible Homicide
Physical Description
Estimated Age – 15 - 21
Race - White / Caucasian, American Indian / Alaska Native, Uncertain
Gender - Male
Height - 5'7 - 6'1 (
Newspaper reports indicate 5'9 to 5'11)
Weight – Cannot Estimate (
Newspaper reports indicate 150 to 165 pounds)
Hair Color - Unknown
Eye Color - Unknown or Missing
Distinguishing Marks / Features – The man had a muscular build. There was evidence that he had undergone some sort of surgery or medical procedure on his lower left leg around four months prior to his death. He also had overgrowth (or bone spurs) on his left hip, which may have indicated that he had some sort of condition that required medical attention.
Clothing and Accessories
Clothing - N/A
Jewelry - N/A
Additional Personal Items – N/A
Circumstances of Discovery
A hunter discovered the partial skeletal remains of the man buried in a shallow grave on Medicine Mountain, in an area of Pennington County located west of Hill City. The remains appear to have been scattered over a fairly wide area, as the pelvic bone was not located until several days after the initial discovery and, as the NamUs file notes, other bones are still yet to be recovered. Authorities initially believed that the man had died from between several months to three years before he was discovered, but later narrowed this time frame down to around a year.
Working with authorities in Colorado, the Pennington County Sheriff's Department were able to determine that the remains most likely belonged to a teenager of Native American descent. However, an initial comparison of the decedent with missing persons reports in South Dakota failed to turn up a match. The following year, pathologists in Denver who had been assisting with the case suggest that the man's skull should be sent to a medical illustrator working with the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma City in order to develop a clay reconstruction.
In August of 1979, the clay reconstruction of the man was completed, and photographs were released to the media where they were widely published throughout South Dakota. Authorities stated that the likeness to the man was ' probably not exact, but close enough that someone might recognise the face'. Although 5 potential leads were received to the victim's identity after the reconstruction was released, all were eventually excluded as being a match to the decedent.
In August of 1980, the Pennington County Sheriff's Department sent out thousands of flyers and letters throughout states in the region, including South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. These were sent to police departments and sheriff's offices, but were also sent to Native American health centres, as examinations had shown that the man's dental work had likely been performed in a public health centre or hospital. These inquiries did result in another 38 leads being explored, but none of these panned out.
In November of 1993, the case was mentioned in relation to another body that was found decapitated in the vicinity of Medicine Mountain. Although there is no evidence to suggest that these cases are related, the newspaper report indicated that, despite extensive investigations, the man located in the shallow grave in 1978 had still not been identified.
Rapid City Journal - November 2, 1978
Rapid City Journal - November 6, 1978
Rapid City Journal - November 13, 1978
Rapid City Journal - November 16, 1978
Rapid City Journal - March 19, 1979
Lead Daily - March 21, 1979
Argus Leader - March 23, 1979
Rapid City Journal - August 3, 1979
Lead Daily - August 6, 1979
Rapid City Journal - August 17, 1979
Rapid City Journal - August 28, 1980
Rapid City Journal - November 16, 1993
