https://www.denverpost.com/2007/08/01/jeffco-on-the-trail-of-two-victims-ids/Jeffco on the trail of two victims’ IDsBy KIRK MITCHELL | kmitchell@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: August 1, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Three decades separate the discoveries of two bodies – two men murdered and their bodies discarded near Morrison.
In both cases, homicide investigators say the key to solving the crimes is learning who they were.
“Without the identity as a starting point, we can’t begin to question people at his place of employment or ask about any of his habits,” Jefferson County sheriff’s Investigator Dan Dunnebecke said about a body found July 23 beside a home near Morrison.
Investigators don’t want the homicide investigation to turn into a cold case like that of a John Doe found in a sleeping bag Feb. 13, 1977.
They hope someone will see a sketch of the latest John Doe – believed to have been between 40 and 50 years old – and call the Sheriff’s Office, Dunnebecke said.
He was found about 50 feet from a home in the 8400 block of Scenic Drive on July 23 by a real estate agent and a potential homebuyer.
The victim is described as an adult man, 5-feet-8 to 5-feet-10, with a medium build and a long, black ponytail. The man was wearing newer bluejeans and a gray T-shirt with the word “DECA” on the left breast.
He had on Georgia-brand brown work boots that can be purchased only by mail order, Dunnebecke said.
Dunnebecke can be reached at 303-271-5628 or ddunnebe@jeffco.us.
In the older case, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s and coroner’s offices presented a clay reconstruction Wednesday of a man bludgeoned on the head and dumped in a mummy military- style sleeping bag over an embankment on U.S. 285 about a mile south of Colorado 8.
The Caucasian man, who may have had Asian or Latino ancestors, was estimated to be between 20 and 24 years old, cold case Investigator Cheryl Moore said. He was 5-feet-7 to 5-feet-8, weighed between 120 and 145 pounds and had dark brown hair that was about 5 inches long, she said.
The clay sculpture of the victim could be the key to solving the homicide case, Moore said.
“Hopefully, somebody will look at this and say, ‘I know that guy,”‘ Moore said. “Whoever recognizes him may lead us to exactly who killed this person.”
The body was found by hikers about a month or two after it had been dumped over the ledge, Moore said.
In a possibly related incident, a man entered the Twin Forks Motel in Tiny Town a few months before the body was found. He was trying to get a ride back to Littleton. The man’s face was cut up and he said he had just gotten into a fight with his brother, who pushed him out of his car.
People who recognize the sculpture of the John Doe can contact Moore at 303-271-5625 or cmoore@jeffco.us.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
THE CASES
1977 VICTIM: A Caucasian man who may have had Asian or Latino ancestors was estimated to be between 20 and 24 years old. He was 5-feet-7 to 5-feet-8, weighed between 120 and 145 pounds and had dark brown hair.
2007 VICTIM: He is described as an adult man, shown above, 5-feet-8 to 5-feet-10, with a medium build and a long, black ponytail.