WV WV - Beckley, WhtMale 17-21, UP17375, hitchhiking, may be from Chicago, clothes/jungle boots, Jul'72

[Romulus]

NamUs UP 17375

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov

Unidentified Body/Remains (White Male)
Found July 23, 1972 in Raleigh County, WV
Body Condition: Not recognizable - Traumatic injuries
Probable year of death: 1972 to 1975
Estimated postmortem interval: hours

Vital Statistics
Estimated age: 17-21 (Adult - Pre-30)
Approximate Height: 72 estimate
Approximate Weight: cannot estimate
Hair Color: Brown; Dark reddish brown hair
Eye Color: Unknown
Scars and marks: moustache

Clothing & Accessories
Clothing: Wearing a black pair of Levis, a blue and grey checkered shirt and jungle boots
Jewerly: nothing
Footwear: jungle boots
Accessories: nothing

Identifiers
Fingerprints: Fingerprint information is available elsewhere
Dentals: Dental information / charting is not available
DNA: Sample available - not yet submitted

Case History: The unidentified was hitch-hiking when he was struck by a car that went out of control near the Fair Deal Market on US 19-21. A motorist who had given the hitch-hiker a ride just before his death told police the man told him he was en route to Bluefield where he was born to get a birth certificate so he could join the Army. He also told, the motorist he was raised in Chicago, IL., but his parents were dead. He never divulged his name.

 

[apearn]

Bumping for this young man

 

[MelmothTheLost]

A motorist who had given the hitch-hiker a ride just before his death told police the man told him he was en route to Bluefield where he was born to get a birth certificate so he could join the Army. He also told, the motorist he was raised in Chicago, IL., but his parents were dead. He never divulged his name.

Poor bugger. Obviously there were no parents who could report him missing but might there have been siblings or cousins who are still wondering about him?

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

Are there post-mortem photos available in his case? Any reconstructions? He was found immediately, so I would imagine eye color, etc., was available as well.

This is completely inconsistent with the story the hitchhiker told, but perhaps Warren Joseph Niederfringer? He left Connecticut roughly June 1, 1972, stating that he was en route to Boston or North Carolina. He was 23, had brown hair, wore a mustache, and was 5'10". However, he had already served in the Army and left in a yellow van that he owned.
Warren Joseph Niederfringer – The Charley Project
Missing Person Case

Another possibility is maybe Dermot Faulkner Kelly. 6', strawberry-blond hair (looks darker in photos and age progression), 16, left home in January of '72 in Illinois (Chicago connection). His is a strange case; he left the family home with a rifle, there were tracks leading in to a river, but he was never found. Supposedly a body in that river should have been found, and his family believed he ran away, but I think that could be wishful thinking on their part.
Dermot Faulkner Kelly – The Charley Project
Flashback Friday: Dermot Kelly
Count Every Mystery: Disappearance of Dermot Kelly
3DMIL - Dermot Faulkner Kelly

If this hitchhiker was the person picked up by the motorist, and the UID was honest in his intent, it seems unlikely to me that he was ever reported missing, though. He probably told friends that he was going to join the Army, and they didn't think anything of it when they didn't hear from him.

 

[Nate_Bro]

Has anyone managed to find the morgue photo that is supposed to exist?

 

[meanmaryjean]

NAMUS knows the exact date of his death but lists the "probable year of death" as 1972-1975 (three years AFTER his witnessed and confirmed death)

And they wonder why some of these cases never get solved....

 

[apearn]

They are really tight on that age range. How many boys could have been born in Bluefield during his birth years? Both towns Bluefield WV and Bluefield VA only have 15k people total on the current census.

 

[Blurgle]

Mysterious WV just released a video on this UID, aka Beckley John Doe.

 

[apearn]

I'm finding some Durfee info on Ancestry but not a specific John Durfee.....yet

 

[Otterly]

I'm finding some Durfee info on Ancestry but not a specific John Durfee.....yet

I found a local newspaper article from 2018 that says "John Durfee was later located; he had sold the boots to a Chicago pawn shop." Maybe the state police lost this piece of information over the years? It also mentions the post-mortem photograph: "The young man’s photograph was once available, but finding it after almost 50 years would be difficult". I guess it was lost/thrown out at some point?
link: Identity of man killed by a drunk driver still unknown after almost half a century

 

[apearn]

I found a local newspaper article from 2018 that says " John Durfee was later located; he had sold the boots to a Chicago pawn shop." Maybe the state police lost this piece of information over the years?
link: Identity of man killed by a drunk driver still unknown after almost half a century

Maybe. Maybe it wasn't substantiated?

It seems like the area around the pawn shop would be a really nice place to look.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Newspaper articles attached to his NamUs profile indicate the drunk driver’s name was Bill W. Rutledge. I certainly hope he was punished for murdering this poor man!

 

[DS2021]

This seems very solvable. I'll contact LE to see if I can obtain a PM. @CarlK90245
Would you be interested in doing a reconstruction if I am able to obtain a PM?

 

[CarlK90245]

This seems very solvable. I'll contact LE to see if I can obtain a PM. @CarlK90245
Would you be interested in doing a reconstruction if I am able to obtain a PM?

Sure, if they are decent quality and not taken from an unusual angle.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

I think this case may definitely be a good candidate for genetic genealogy.

 

[apearn]

I think this case may definitely be a good candidate for genetic genealogy.

i agree.

@othram - what do you think?

 

[othram]

i agree.

@othram - what do you think?

We will investigate!

 

[apearn]

We will investigate!

Thank you!

 

[azure]

My father died in 2019, and his best friend was taken off of life support yesterday. In 1972, at 18, my dad and his best friend went on a hitchhiking trip across the US. They had many stories, including being randomly shot at on the side of the road in Wyoming, and detained by a LE agency who were very unfriendly to hippies.

I feel a kinship to this man, who was living a life parallel to the people most important to me. I hope that he is identified in 2023 and returned home while he still may have surviving relatives.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Could Michael Lee Pickering be a possible match? He appears to match the physical description (Age, Race, Height, Hair Color).

4939DMCA - Michael Lee Pickering

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

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

www.namus.gov