TN TN - Philadelphia, WhtMale 45-55, UP61281, Skeletal, Found by workers mowing along highway, Aug'19

[BrownBear]

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP61281

Demographics
Sex Male
Race / Ethnicity White / Caucasian
Possible First Name--
Possible Middle Name--
Possible Last Name--
Nickname/Alias--
Estimated Age Group Adult
Estimated Age Range (Years) 45-55
Estimated Year of Death--
Estimated PMI--
Height 5' 10"-6' 1"(70-73 inches) , Estimated
Weight Cannot Estimate

Circumstances
Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found August 20, 2019
NamUs Case Created November 2, 2019
ME/C QA Reviewed--

Location Found
Location Philadelphia, Tennessee
County Loudon County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped) 35.6923, -84.4326
Found On Tribal Land No
Circumstances of Recovery Found by Tennessee Department of Transportation workers while they were mowing along the highway.

Details of Recovery
Inventory of Remains--
Condition of Remains Not recognizable - Near complete or complete skeleton

Physical Description
Hair Color Unknown
Head Hair Description--
Body Hair Description--
Facial Hair Description--
Left Eye Color Unknown
Right Eye Color Unknown
Eye Description--

Distinctive Physical Features
No Information Entered

Clothing and Accessories
No Information Entered

 

[carbuff]

Not much to go on...

 

[BrownBear]

Circumstance Notes​

Based on items recovered near decedent, decedent appeared to be homeless. Near the body were a lighter labeled "Hot Spot" / "Rewards Spot", which is from a chain convenience stores in North and South Carolina, and a Pennsylvania Tourism and Transportation map from 2010.

Clothing and Accessories​

Accessories
Blue/grey knit beanie (no tag/brand)
Near the Body

Accessories
Hot Spot Reward Spot white lighter
Near the Body

Clothing
Pacific Trail Cold Weather Collection jacket, size Men's XXL
On the Body

Clothing
Old Navy windbreaker, size XL
Near the Body

Clothing
White socks x10
Near the Body

Footwear
Dr. Scholl's grey sneakers, size USA Men's 10W
Near the Body

Other
Hands On black gloves (x2)
Near the Body

Other
Food Lion MVP Customer rewards card (no name associated)
Near the Body

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[HmmMysterious]

One candidate I found interesting: Dale Sprague

Sprague walked away from his home in Concord, North Carolina on June 3, 2010 after an argument. He was last seen walking towards the highway with a grocery bag containing his clothes.

Statistics fit. Could that grocery bag come from Food Lion? And were his clothes the same ones found on John Doe? Where was Dale going?

 

[HmmMysterious]

One candidate I found interesting: Dale Sprague

Sprague walked away from his home in Concord, North Carolina on June 3, 2010 after an argument. He was last seen walking towards the highway with a grocery bag containing his clothes.

Statistics fit. Could that grocery bag come from Food Lion? And were his clothes the same ones found on John Doe? Where was Dale going?

I created a thread for Dale: NC - NC - Dale Allen Sprague, 53, Concord, 3 June 2010

I wonder if John Doe wanted to go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which explains the tourism map of the state, but got disoriented and somehow ended up in Philadelphia, Tennessee.

 

[HmmMysterious]

I submitted Dale Sprague as a potential match. So much adds up, but what amazes me is that Dale was last seen walking towards a highway and the John Doe was found along a highway.

 

[HmmMysterious]

Dale Sprague's NamUs was modified 2 days ago, but there were no changes made to it.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

One candidate I found interesting: Dale Sprague

Sprague walked away from his home in Concord, North Carolina on June 3, 2010 after an argument. He was last seen walking towards the highway with a grocery bag containing his clothes.

Statistics fit. Could that grocery bag come from Food Lion? And were his clothes the same ones found on John Doe? Where was Dale going?

NC - NC - Dale Allen Sprague, 53, Concord, 3 June 2010

NamUs Name: Dale Allen Sprague Age: 53 years old Race: White/Caucasian Height: 5'10" Weight: 160-180 lbs Hair color: Brown Eye color: Blue Date of Disappearance: June 3, 2010 Location: Concord, North Carolina Circumstances: After an argument, Dale left his home and has had no contact since...

www.websleuths.com

 

[carbuff]

No exclusions.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[HmmMysterious]

No exclusions.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Modified today. Still no exclusions

 

[iulia]

His NamUs page has been removed.

 

[dotr]

Tennessee's Loudon County John Doe (2019) is now Identified

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Knox County Regional Forensic Center, & Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Team with Othram to Identify a 2019 John Doe

dnasolves.com

''In August 2019, Tennessee Department of Transportation workers discovered partial human remains in a homeless encampment while mowing 100 yards from Interstate 75 in Philadelphia, Tennessee, a town in rural Loudon County, southwest of Knoxville. The Loudon County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene near mile marker 68.6 and investigation was launched. The Loudon County Attorney requested that anthropologists from the Knox County Regional Forensic Center excavate and recover the skeletal remains.

Investigators determined that the remains likely belonged to an adult white man between 45 to 55 years old who stood about 5'11" tall. It is unknown when or how the man died, but there was no direct evidence of a traumatic injury, like a gunshot wound or blunt force trauma, and the man's cause and manner of death were ruled as undetermined.

Near the man's body were several items including a lighter labeled "Hot Spot" / "Rewards Spot", which is from a chain convenience store in North and South Carolina, and a 2010 Pennsylvania Tourism and Transportation map. Despite an exhaustive investigation, including distributing a composite sketch of what the man may have looked like when he was alive, the man's identity remained a mystery and he was classified as Loudon County John Doe. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP61281.''

 

[dotr]

Victim in 2019 Loudon County cold case identified, TBI asking for information

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is asking for information after scientists managed to identify the victim of a 2019 cold case.

www.wvlt.tv

July 21 2025
''LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is asking for information after scientists managed to identify the victim of a 2019 cold case.

The announcement came Monday. TBI officials said scientists at Othram, a forensics lab in Texas that specializes in identifying cold case victims, had found possible relatives to the man. This came more than five years after a Tennessee Department of Transportation crew found the man’s remains while mowing along I-75 in Philadelphia.''

'Those with information are now being asked to come forward by calling the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office at 865-986-4823 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.'

 

[summergirl1]

It's interesting he was from Pennsylvania originally and had a Pennsylvania map. I would say he most likely died around 2010, given the date of the map, and the age estimate on him. He would have been 58 that year, which is three years above the highest age estimate on him. I looked up Food Lion stores and saw those exist in Pennsylvania and North and South Carolina as well as Tennessee. He had relatives in North Carolina, as mentioned although the above article, although they had been out of touch since the 1980s, so maybe he was familiar with North Carolina for that reason. Or maybe he had never lived there nor been there. The lighter he had could have come from South Carolina as well.

It's interesting he had been out of touch with his siblings -and presumably all relatives-since the 1980s, so I'm assuming they just thought (as in so many Doe cases) that he was out there living his life somewhere. He was definitely doing so until about 2010, so for many years his relatives were right. His remains seem not have been found for (roughly) almost a decade..

 

[summergirl1]

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/john-troutman-obituary?id=58935005