Louisiana Mystery: Coroner Seeks ID in 40-Year-Old Case, Can You Help?

Louisiana investigators hope that DNA technology and the public's assistance will help them identify a man whose identity has remained a mystery for forty years, according to the St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office.

Since October of 1984, investigators have been working to identify the person whose remains were found by two hunters near a bank of the West Pearl River.

The area is very close to the Louisiana-Mississippi state line, which makes St. Tammany Parish Coroner's investigator Chris Knoblauch think that the man was from Mississippi, but of course, anything is possible.

Why Not Just Use DNA?

The use of DNA technology would make one assume that all you need is a little bit of DNA to identify a person, but it's not that easy.

According to the St. Tammany Coroner's Office, they did get a profile in 2019 from their lab analysis. They submitted it to the national databases for the Combined DNA Identification System and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, but these searches yielded nothing.

What Other Work Has Been Done On This Case?

In all the intervening years, investigators have worked to identify the remains of the man. In 2023, the LSU FACES lab used its reconstruction techniques to give a general idea of what the man might have looked like by creating a sketch.

Unfortunately, the Coroner's Office says no leads or tips came in based on the sketch. They continue working on the case.

Other Information Of Note

While the bones were found by the river in 1984, it is possible they were there for up to ten years before being discovered.

This means that they estimate that John Doe could have been born anywhere between 1940 and 1975.

Experts have also said they believe the man was of mixed race, and he was probably between the ages of 18 and 40.

Officials are hoping people will take a look at the photograph above and think about the time frame. Even if you are not in the same area of the state where the remains were recovered, you could be the person who recognizes this man.

Here is the complete transcript of the press release sent to the media about identifying this man. It comes from the St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office:

St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Christopher Tape is asking for the public’s
help in identifying a person whose remains were discovered more than 40 years ago.

In October 1984, skeletal remains were located by hunters on the bank of the
West Pearl River near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. As technology has
advanced, different methods have been employed in an attempt to identify the
decedent, but thus far have not yielded conclusive results.

An analysis performed by the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office DNA LAB
was completed in 2019 and uploaded to the national Combined DNA Identification
System (CODIS) and to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
(NAMUS) databases, but no missing persons have yet matched.

An anthropological examination confirmed the subject was male, probably of
mixed race, and between the ages of 18 and 40 years at the time of his death.
Experts estimate he might have died as long as 10 years before his remains were
discovered, which could place his date of birth anywhere from approximately 1940-
1975.

In 2023, the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement
Services (FACES) Laboratory developed a forensic sketch depicting how the man
may have looked during his life. Viewers should consider that the hairline, hairstyle,
and complexion are estimates.

Despite investigators’ work to identify the man, his identity remains a
decades-old mystery. Coroner’s Office Cold Case Investigator Chris Knoblauch has
spent many hours on the case, and has reasons to believe the subject was from
Mississippi.

“Every decedent deserves an identity, Tape said. “Cases may grow ‘cold’ but
they are never ‘closed’ until we know the name of the person. His life mattered, and
it didn’t stop mattering when he died. I hope someone may recognize the computer-
aided likeness and contact us.”