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.”
Anyone with information that could assist in this investigation is encouraged to contact the Coroner’s Office at 985-781-1150.
