New Sketch May Help Identify Mystery Death Case
Fort Collins, Colorado (United States):
The Larimer County Coroner's Office has three unidentified death cases but one dates back to 1997 and the identity of the man has eluded investigators for years.
Now, a new sketch of the man has been released. The sketch was made from autopsy photographs and shows how the artist thinks he might have looked when he was alive.
The decaying corpse of the man, between 17 and 30 years of age, was found in the cab of a semi-trailer on July 12, 1997 parked in the 2200 block of Airway Avenue. An autopsy estimated he died about a week earlier.
When the coroner's office took possession of the remains, they didn't have much to work with. The windows of the truck had been rolled up and the body showed advanced decomposition due to the extremely hot temperatures of the truck cab.
The autopsy was inconclusive as to the man's cause of death. The man could have been killed, died accidentally or his death could be due to natural causes, the coroner said.
The body had no identification on it and a national search of fingerprints failed to come up with a hit on the man.
The man was nicely dressed, with wavy brown hair, and his teeth showed signs of good dental work.
DNA samples and dental imprints were taken from the body before it was cremated and Chief Deputy Coroner Dianne Fairman told the Fort Collins Coloradoan that she has combed hundreds of missing persons Web sites hoping to identify the man.
She hopes someone will recognize the sketch and come forward with information about him.
There are two other cases in which the coroner's office is seeking identification: a newborn girl found in Horsetooth Reservoir and a Hispanic man found dead in a railroad box car.
Sept 29, 2005
TheDenverChannel.com, CO
Fort Collins, Colorado (United States):The Larimer County Coroner's Office has three unidentified death cases but one dates back to 1997 and the identity of the man has eluded investigators for years.
Now, a new sketch of the man has been released. The sketch was made from autopsy photographs and shows how the artist thinks he might have looked when he was alive.
The decaying corpse of the man, between 17 and 30 years of age, was found in the cab of a semi-trailer on July 12, 1997 parked in the 2200 block of Airway Avenue. An autopsy estimated he died about a week earlier.
When the coroner's office took possession of the remains, they didn't have much to work with. The windows of the truck had been rolled up and the body showed advanced decomposition due to the extremely hot temperatures of the truck cab.
The autopsy was inconclusive as to the man's cause of death. The man could have been killed, died accidentally or his death could be due to natural causes, the coroner said.
The body had no identification on it and a national search of fingerprints failed to come up with a hit on the man.
The man was nicely dressed, with wavy brown hair, and his teeth showed signs of good dental work.
DNA samples and dental imprints were taken from the body before it was cremated and Chief Deputy Coroner Dianne Fairman told the Fort Collins Coloradoan that she has combed hundreds of missing persons Web sites hoping to identify the man.
She hopes someone will recognize the sketch and come forward with information about him.
There are two other cases in which the coroner's office is seeking identification: a newborn girl found in Horsetooth Reservoir and a Hispanic man found dead in a railroad box car.
Sept 29, 2005
TheDenverChannel.com, CO
