WI WI - Lena - Adult Male skull in box, UP95145, Aug'79

[Melt71]

NamUs #UP95145 Female, Uncertain
Date Body Found August 18, 1979
Location Found Lena, Wisconsin
ME/C case 0122-3101

Demographics​

Sex Female
Race / EthnicityUncertain
Estimated Age Group Adult

Circumstances​

Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found August 18, 1979
NamUs Case Created September 10, 2022

Location Found Map​

Location Lena, Wisconsin 54139
County Oconto County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)--
Found On Tribal Land No
Circumstances of Recovery Skull found in bread-box in Lena dump.

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Details of Recovery​

Condition of RemainsNot recognizable - Partial skeletal parts only

Physical Description​

No details entered

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Distinctive Physical Features​

No Information Entered​

 

[Tuck]

A few more additional details, according to a Racine Journal Times article published on September 14th, 1979.

- The victim had apparently been beaten to death with a weapon of some kind.

- The victim was estimated to have been between the ages of 30 and 40.

- She had died somewhere between 10 and 15 years prior to the skull being located.

- The skull was actually located on August 24th by a caretaker at the dump; the bread box and the skull had been deposited at the dump on August 18th.

- The bread box was made of metal, and was apparently in good condition, indicating that it had been kept indoors for a period of time.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Lena is near the city of Green Bay and the Menominee Reservation.

 

[MarziPanda]

Now an Othram case:

Who is Oconto County Doe (1979)?

Oconto County Sheriff's Office Teams with Othram to Identify 1979 Doe Case

dnasolves.com

Article states that initial Othram investigations have determined this Doe is male, not female. Thread title will need changing.

 

[heartanium]

Great to hear this has been picked up by Ortham.

Some of the older missing person's cases I can find in the area:

October 7, 1958 - Max Edward Metcalf (MP156030), 33 yrs old, missing from Princeton. His truck was found Oshkosh. He supposedly was going out for a few beers at local bars/taverns nearby his farm, but never reappeared. His truck was found the day he went missing and on the route you would have taken from Princeton to Lena.

May 6, 1963 - Phillip R Malchow - (MP25663), 37 yrs old, went missing from Black River Falls, which is about 3 hours way from where the skull was found.

May 8, 1968 - Charles J Pinger (MP89012), 64 yrs old. Disappeared about 3 hours north of the skull, was living in the woods as a hermit.

Personally I think Max would be the best match.

 

[HmmMysterious]

Possible candidate: Kenneth Michael Plaisted

He vanished 2 hours away in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A former associate was involved in a fierce dispute with him and is a potential suspect. Could the associate been angry enough to decapitate Kenneth?

 

[dotr]

May 23 2023 rbbm

https://www.seehafernews.com/2023/05/23/new-details-uncovered-in-oconto-county-cold-case-from-1979/

''The mystery of a skull found in a metal box in Oconto County nearly 44 years ago has taken a new turn.

The human skull was found in the Village of Lena on August 24th, 1979, inside of a metal bread box that was said to be in good condition.

The skull itself was said to belong to an individual who had died within the past couple of years, at the time, and the victim was believed to be between 30 and 40 years old.

The gender of the individual was initially believed to be female, but recent studies on the skull determined that they were likely a male.

As of now, no additional identifying characteristics have been observed, and the identity of this individual remains a mystery.

The Oconto County Sheriff’s Office is working with the forensic genetic genealogy company Ortham to continue to work on the case.''

 

[Teamir]

Are we able to ask Othram if there’s an update? How do we tag them if so?

 

[othram]

Are we able to ask Othram if there’s an update? How do we tag them if so?

Consider us tagged! We have a profile, the case is in genealogy at the moment. We will update as soon as we can share more information!

 

[Keiri]

Malchow went missing under the bridge where he was fishing. I had figured metcalf was buried on his property, as news reports at the time suggested there was disturbed ground. As for Plaisted, no idea but he was older. I’d love to hear about the status of this and the diamond bluff cranium.

 

[Keiri]

Consider us tagged! We have a profile, the case is in genealogy at the moment. We will update as soon as we can share more information!

Do you have more info on this skull? I would love to know if the dna has been added and run against NamUs?

 

[Teamir]

Here's a current link to Othram's page for this UID:

Who is Oconto County Doe (1979)?

Oconto County Sheriff's Office Teams with Othram to Identify 1979 Doe Case

dnasolves.com

It is fully funded and per they comment earlier in the thread, was already in genealogy. I'm looking forward to this solve!

 

[Keiri]

Updated on NaMus today, you must have seen it too tea. maybe we will hear.

 

[Teamir]

Updated on NaMus today, you must have seen it too tea. maybe we will hear.

I didn’t know that it was updated on Namus today! That’s great! I was reminded of it by something different that Othram posted and happened to go to the DNAsolves site to check it.