John Doe Press Release 2018

The Tom Green County Sheriff's Office on Monday released photos of facial reconstruction performed to identify a man whose body was discovered nearly 31 years ago at the Twin Buttes Reservoir in the southwest part of Tom Green County.

The photos, which were based on forensic anthropology and dental examinations, as well as DNA samples, revealed a male about 17 to 27 years of age, Caucasian or possibly Hispanic in ancestry.

In February 2018, the Tom Green County Sheriff's Office submitted the remains of "John Doe" to the University Of North Texas Center for Human Identification for a secondary forensic anthropology examination, forensic odontology examination, and DNA extraction, officials said.

An initial autopsy, forensic anthropology and dental examinations, from the body failed to identify the man or create any additional leads in the case, according to Investigators. Case information entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database in 2013 has so far not yielded an identity.

The UNT Center for Human Identification conducted testing by a forensic anthropologist narrowing down the man's possible ancestries. The DNA analysis results were then uploaded into CODIS, the FBI's national database. Additionally, the Forensic Anthropologist was able to tell Investigators that John Doe had suffered from Spina Bifida, which was confined to the Sacral area of the spine. It is possible that "John Doe" did not know he had the defect.

Although an early (1994) facial reconstruction drawing had been completed, Investigators wanted to explore the possibility that scientific advances would enhance the original drawing. In February 2018, the Tom Green County Sheriff's Office requested that the FBI Lab located in Quantico Virginia perform a facial reconstruction of John Doe in hopes that it would assist in identifying the man.

The man's body was discovered Nov. 15th, 1987 and was in an advanced state of decomposition, according to Investigators.

Call to help

Anyone with information regarding the identity of this John Doe and this case is asked to contact either Lt. Terry Lowe or Sgt. Billy Fiveash at the Tom Green County Sheriff's Office, (325) 655-8111.