General Information
Date of Discovery - 07/01/1979
Location of Discovery - Crimora, Augusta County, Virginia
Estimated Date of Death - 1957-1960
State of Remains - Not recognizable - partial skeletal parts only
Cause of Death - Possible homicide
Physical Description
Estimated Age - 35 - 55
Race - White / Caucasian
Gender - Male
Height - 5'7 - 6'2 (
Newspaper coverage indicates 5'8 - 5'10)
Weight - Cannot estimate
Hair Color - Unknown
Eye Color - Unknown
Distinguishing Marks / Features - Unknown
Clothing and Personal Items
Clothing - Unknown
Jewelry - Unknown
Additional Personal Items - Unknown
Circumstances of Discovery
Deputies from the Augusta County Sheriff's Department were dragging a flooded manganese mine for a stolen pickup truck when they discovered a leg bone chained to a cinder block. Subsequent searches of the area by police divers, who had to 'feel around in the dark mine', located a further 25 smaller bones, which a medical examiner determined belonged to an adult male. A 1974 pickup truck was also located, but this was believed to be unrelated to the case.
Two years prior to the discovery of the bones in 1979, a partial skull was located at the mine. At the time, authorities noted that they were unable to identify the remains, attributing this to the absence of teeth and decomposition. However, due to their poor condition, the remains were never reported to the state medical examiner in Roanoke, and the skull was kept around the office and 'put on everybody's desk' until it ultimately fell apart and was discarded. It remains unclear as to whether the skull was definitively linked to the remains discovered in 1979.
Investigations by the sheriff's department indicated that there were no missing persons in Augusta County at the time. However, authorities did investigate a potential lead from neighboring Rockingham County, which indicated that a man who went missing in 1972 may have been 'murdered and thrown into the abandoned mine' at Crimora. Although there were some similarities between the missing man and the unidentified remains, this linkage was later discounted when his remains were located at an undisclosed location in Rockingham County in 2001. To this day, the remains located in Augusta County remain unidentified, with foul play strongly suspected in the case due to the circumstances surrounding the discovery.
Sources
Martinsville Bulletin - July 15, 1979
The Daily Progress - July 15, 1979
The Daily Advance - July 18, 1979
The News-Virginian - July 18, 1979
The News and Advance - July 19, 1979
The Roanoke Times - December 22, 2001
