TX TX - Hickory Creek, BlkMale 14-18, UP3959, 3747UMTX, Disabled left arm, Aug'90

[BrownBear]

3747UMTX - Unidentified Male

Date of Discovery: August 1, 1990
Location of Discovery: Denton County, Texas.
Estimated Date of Death: 1981-1990
State of Remains: Not recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description
Estimated Age: 14-18 years old
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Height: 5'5" to 5'8"
Weight: 140 to 155 lbs.
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Crippled left arm - injury to the left shoulder resulting in partial or total paralysis. The left arm was slightly shorter and rotation of hand and forearm went inward.

Identifiers
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Blue denim Levis jeans , white singlet (vest) tired around left arm, red low top athletic shoes, size 9.
Jewelry: A watch
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Discovery
The victim's skeletal remains were found at a construction site at Hickory Creek Park on August 1, 1990, in Denton County, Texas.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Nizam Peerwani
Agency Phone Number: 817-920-5700 ext. 161
Agency E-Mail: npeerwani(at)tarrantcounty.com
Agency Case Number: 900322D

Agency Name: Denton County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Unknown
Agency Phone Number: 940-349-1660
Agency E-Mail: Unknown
Agency Case Number: 90-07137

NCIC Case Number: N/A
NamUs Case Number: 3959
Former Hot Case Number: 2208

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Texas Department of Public Safety

Admin Notes
Added: 10/10/10; Last Updated: 10/29/21

 

[HopeRains]

Articles of the day indicated his remains were unearthed by army corps of engineers using a backhoe to place utility lines. One article said based on the color of the bones, they suspected the homicide victim had been buried for approx 1 1/2 years. I didn't find any follow-up articles after mid-August 1990. Oh, the description: "white singlet (vest) tired around left arm", when I googled that the images were a white tank top, sometimes called a muscle shirt.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Articles of the day indicated his remains were unearthed by army corps of engineers using a backhoe to place utility lines. One article said based on the color of the bones, they suspected the homicide victim had been buried for approx 1 1/2 years. I didn't find any follow-up articles after mid-August 1990. Oh, the description: "white singlet (vest) tired around left arm", when I googled that the images were a white tank top, sometimes called a muscle shirt.

Do you mind sharing links to the articles? Even if it’s on newspapers.com. You can include a screenshot. Thanks!

 

[HopeRains]

Yes, I surely will - thanks for the reminder!

 

[Goecke]

Maybe the shirt tied around his arm was a makeshift sling?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP3959
Male, Black / African American
Date Body Found: August 1, 1990
Location Found: Denton County, Texas
Estimated Age Group
Adult - Pre 20
Estimated Age Range (Years):
14-18
Estimated Year of Death:
1981-1985
Estimated PMI: 5 Years
Height: 5' 6"(66 inches) , Estimated
Weight: 155 lbs, Estimated

Disabled left arm
Clothing: blue denim Levis jeans, white singlet (vest) tired around left arm
Footwear: red low top athletic shoes, size 9
Jewelry: Watch

Are there any known Rule-outs listed?

 

[BrownBear]

Are there any known Rule-outs listed?

None unfortunately

 

[ChatteringBirds]

It sounds like they are not going to or cannot obtain DNA for this young man, JMO. Nevertheless bumping up his case one more time. Who was this teenager?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping case up.

The best possible match I can find is a 15-year-old boy missing from Pennsylvania in December 1985. MP5881, Allen B., 5'8", he has a lump on his left shoulder. His profile in Namus:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

I find this possible match unlikely, though, due to the distance from Texas.

I would speculate our John Doe is more likely a disabled teenager from Texas who was possibly abused or neglected and not reported missing. But just a guess on my part.

What do you all think?

 

[MelmothTheLost]

It sounds like they are not going to or cannot obtain DNA for this young man, JMO.

What makes you say that? I can't see anything in the available information about what was done with the remains, which might have been buried and may be available for exhumation.

This may be a localish case for @othram .

 

[ChatteringBirds]

What makes you say that?

Because he was found 35 years ago and has zero exclusions listed in NamUs, I assume they do not have his DNA/dentals for comparisons and it may be too late to obtain them. Or they probably would have by now (?). I think, he was a teenager, vulnerable, why haven't they by now, if they could?

 

[ChatteringBirds]

This may be a localish case for othram .

I hope so!

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Because he was found 35 years ago and has zero exclusions listed in NamUs, I assume they do not have his DNA/dentals for comparisons and it may be too late to obtain them. Or they probably would have by now (?). I think, he was a teenager, vulnerable, why haven't they by now, if they could.

OK, understood where you are coming from.

However, I wouldn't draw too many conclusions from the lack of stated DNA or dentals at this stage. In 1990 it's unlikely that taking DNA from UIDs was routine practice since the first successful use of DNA in identifying a criminal was only in 1986/1987, and given that this lad was found 35 years ago it's also very possible that any dental records taken at the time have since been lost. Given how fragmented LE jurisdictions and practices are in the US, I would imagine that, unless the remains were cremated or lost/sent to landfill/buried in an unmarked plot with no records kept, it's probably just a matter of funding and administration to arrange an exhumation.