TX TX - Brooks County, HispMale, Venezuela ID name Julio Cesar Simancas Pino, matching Facebook page

[AguaFlorida2001]

#UP94683

Sex - Male
Race / Ethnicity - Hispanic/Latino
Estimated Age Group - Adult
Height - N/A
Weight - N/A
Date Body Found - September 22, 2021
Location - Cage Ranch, Brooks County, TX
County - Brooks County, TX
Circumstances of Recovery - On September 22, 2021, an adult Hispanic male decedent was found on the Cage Ranch. The decedent had a driver's license and passport from Venezuela and a passport from Colombia, stating he was born in Venezuela. This is decedent number 95 for 2021.
Hair Color - Black
Clothing - Black shirt, black jeans, blue/grey tennis shoes. Blue/grey tennis shoes.
Possessions - Two passports (1 - Republic of Colombia in the name Julio Cesar Simancas Pino) (1 - Venezuela in the name Julio Cesar Simancas Pino). Drivers license from Venezuela. $1320 US currency inside passport. Small Bible. Black smart cell phone.

The last name Simancas-Pino is super uncommon. Look up the name on this Doe's ID and it leads to an FB page for somebody named Julio Simancas P who is a dead-ringer for this Doe. There are a number of people in his friends list with the same surname -- I can't find anything about him being missing on their pages. What do y'all think?

 

[Sd8503]

Definitely the same guy. If he has passport and ID with his name I don't understand why he's unidentified?? Is that not really his name?

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

Definitely the same guy. If he has passport and ID with his name I don't understand why he's unidentified?? Is that not really his name?

An overwhelming amount of unidentified Doe's in border counties + racism and xenophobia, I'm guessing.

 

[Dylan04]

I submitted this match to NamUs and local authorities, I heard back from Brooks County Deputy:

“Thank you for your email. I believe that you did send this to Judge Garza. He will be responsible for signing the death certificate once a positive ID has been made. The difficulty here, and it may wind up not being one at all, is that when skeletal remains are found, even with an ID, the next step is to get the consulate to obtain a buccal swab of a family member, usually mother if at all possible. It's only for accuracy as we have had IDs that didn't match the body, not many, but a few.
At this point, I will start searching to see where the remains are currently at. Quite possibly at Texas State. I'll pass on the information, they will contact the appropriate consulate to get their participation. They will probably be an integral part of the ID process and the return of the remains to his family. If the family now resides in the US, then, they should be able to obtain the remains once the whole process is complete.
Thank you again for finding this and sending the information. Reach out anytime you would like an update or for additional information.”

Hopefully they can locate family. It sounds like they either have had some matches, or it is possible that the identification didn’t actually belong to the John Doe, as they were partial remains. I’m curious if investigators have used Venezuelan authorities to possibly solve this, as it seems it would be relatively simple since the John doe was found with his passports?

This is my first time using WebSleuths, so I’m sorry if I do anything wrong.

 

[azure]

I submitted this match to NamUs and local authorities, I heard back from Brooks County Deputy:

“Thank you for your email. I believe that you did send this to Judge Garza. He will be responsible for signing the death certificate once a positive ID has been made. The difficulty here, and it may wind up not being one at all, is that when skeletal remains are found, even with an ID, the next step is to get the consulate to obtain a buccal swab of a family member, usually mother if at all possible. It's only for accuracy as we have had IDs that didn't match the body, not many, but a few.
At this point, I will start searching to see where the remains are currently at. Quite possibly at Texas State. I'll pass on the information, they will contact the appropriate consulate to get their participation. They will probably be an integral part of the ID process and the return of the remains to his family. If the family now resides in the US, then, they should be able to obtain the remains once the whole process is complete.
Thank you again for finding this and sending the information. Reach out anytime you would like an update or for additional information.”

Hopefully they can locate family. It sounds like they either have had some matches, or it is possible that the identification didn’t actually belong to the John Doe, as they were partial remains. I’m curious if investigators have used Venezuelan authorities to possibly solve this, as it seems it would be relatively simple since the John doe was found with his passports?

This is my first time using WebSleuths, so I’m sorry if I do anything wrong.

Venezuela's government has basically collapsed, so I imagine it would be hard to get anyone interested in confirming this Doe's ID.

The Current Situation in Venezuela
US Institute For Peace 2022 Venezuela Fact Sheet