Author Topic: SMITHFIELD JOHN DOE: WM, 25-35, found floating in Smithfield, RI pond - 18 June 1987  (Read 168 times)

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The victim was found floating in Stump Pond, Smithfield, RI in 1987. His body was weighted down and riddled with 21 stab wounds. The man was festooned in chicken wire and ballasted by 90 pounds of rocks and barbell weights, all fastened by coaxial cable. He had 7 wounds on his head, 14 on his chest. The weapon was thought to have been an ice pick or similar instrument. Anchored by the weights, he had presumably lain out of sight on the floor of the pond for one to three weeks. There was neither wallet nor identification.

Smithfield, Rhode Island is close to Massachusetts and Connecticut. The victim and the killer could be from anywhere in New England.

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Akoya

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https://identifyus.org/en/cases/12497

NamUs UP # 12497



ME/C Case Number: 2111-87A
Providence County, Rhode Island
25 to 35 year old White Male

Case Report - NamUs UP # 12497
Case Information
Status Unidentified
Case number 2111-87A
Date found June 18, 1987 18:11
Date created May 20, 2014 13:30
Date last modified February 03, 2015 15:43
Investigating agency
date QA reviewed

Local Contact (ME/C or Other)

Agency Rhode Island State Med Exams Ofc
Phone 401-222-5500
Case Manager
Name Gregg Catlow
Phone 401-231-2500

Demographics
Estimated age Adult
Minimum age 25 years
Maximum age 35 years
Race White
Ethnicity
Sex Male
Weight (pounds) 122, Measured
Height (inches) 65, Measured
Body Parts Inventory (Check all that apply)
All parts recovered
Body conditions
Not recognizable - Decomposing/putrefaction
Probable year of death 1987 to
Estimated postmortem interval 2 Weeks

Circumstances
Location Found
GPS coordinates 41.908919, -71.542483
Address 1 307 Farnum Pike
Address 2
City Smithfield
State Rhode Island
Zip code 02917
County Providence
Circumstances
Subject was found deceased in Stump Pond. Victim suffered multiple stab wounds, was found clothed, wrapped in chicken wire, and was weighed down.

Physical
Hair color Brown
Facial hair
Mustache
Left eye color Brown
Right eye color Brown
Eye description

No other distinctive body features

Fingerprints

Status: Fingerprint information is available and entered

Clothing and Accessories
Clothing and accessories are described below
Clothing on body
Black sleeveless mid-riff muscle shirt with "San Juan" printed horizontally and vertically on the back in white. Grey XS sweatpants and blue undershorts.
Clothing with body

Footwear
Size 7.5 McGregor Tristar sneakers, no socks

Dental
Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered

DNA
Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete

Images



Artist Rendering
Public viewable
1988 FBI Sketch
Documents
There are currently no documents available for this case

Akoya

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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/406umri.html

Case File: 406UMRI
The Doe Network




Reconstruction of Victim by FBI


Unidentified Male
Date of Discovery: June 18, 1987
Location of Discovery: Smithfield, Providence County, Rhode Island
Estimated Date of Death: 1-3 weeks
State of Remains: Not stated
Cause of Death: Homicide

Physical Description
** Listed information is approximate

Estimated Age: 25 - 35 years old
Race: Possibly Hispanic
Gender: Male
Height: 5'5
Weight: 122 lbs
Hair Color: He had receding, straight hair; brown mustache. He also had a scruffy beard
Eye Color: Brown

Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Dentals: There are dentals, but of no value.
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Available
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: A black muscle shirt bore the inscription "San Juan" on front and back. He was clad in gray sweatpants, and wore no socks under his size 7 1/2 McGregor Tristar sneakers.

Jewelry: Unknown

Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Case History
The victim was found floating in Stump Pond, Smithfield, RI in 1987. His body was weighted down and riddled with 21 stab wounds. The man was festooned in chicken wire and ballasted by 90 pounds of rocks and barbell weights, all fastened by coaxial cable. He had 7 wounds on his head, 14 on his chest. The weapon was thought to have been an ice pick or similar instrument. Anchored by the weights, he had presumably lain out of sight on the floor of the pond for one to three weeks. There was neither wallet nor identification.

Smithfield, Rhode Island is close to Massachusetts and Connecticut. The victim and the killer could be from anywhere in New England.

Investigating Agency(s)
If you have any information about this case please contact;

Agency Name: Smithfield Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Sgt. Kenneth A. Brown
Agency Phone Number: 401-231-2500
E-Mail

Agency Case Number: Unknown
NCIC Case Number: U347787907
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Information Source(s)
Smithfield Police Department
Reconstruction of Victim by FBI


Unidentified Male

Date of Discovery: June 18, 1987
Location of Discovery: Smithfield, Providence County, Rhode Island
Estimated Date of Death: 1-3 weeks
State of Remains: Not stated
Cause of Death: Homicide

Physical Description
** Listed information is approximate

Estimated Age: 25 - 35 years old
Race: Possibly Hispanic
Gender: Male
Height: 5'5
Weight: 122 lbs
Hair Color: He had receding, straight hair; brown mustache. He also had a scruffy beard
Eye Color: Brown

Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Dentals: There are dentals, but of no value.
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Available
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: A black muscle shirt bore the inscription "San Juan" on front and back. He was clad in gray sweatpants, and wore no socks under his size 7 1/2 McGregor Tristar sneakers.

Jewelry: Unknown

Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Case History

The victim was found floating in Stump Pond, Smithfield, RI in 1987. His body was weighted down and riddled with 21 stab wounds. The man was festooned in chicken wire and ballasted by 90 pounds of rocks and barbell weights, all fastened by coaxial cable. He had 7 wounds on his head, 14 on his chest. The weapon was thought to have been an ice pick or similar instrument. Anchored by the weights, he had presumably lain out of sight on the floor of the pond for one to three weeks. There was neither wallet nor identification.

Smithfield, Rhode Island is close to Massachusetts and Connecticut. The victim and the killer could be from anywhere in New England.

Investigating Agency(s)

If you have any information about this case please contact;

Agency Name: Smithfield Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Sgt. Kenneth A. Brown
Agency Phone Number: 401-231-2500
E-Mail

Agency Case Number: Unknown
NCIC Case Number: U347787907
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Information Source(s)
Smithfield Police Department

Akoya

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Stump Pond, Smithfield, Rhode Island

At the Stump Pond launch on Log Road in Smithfield RI.






Akoya

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PS coordinates 41.908919, -71.542483
307 Farnum Pike
City Smithfield



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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/ar/t6192.htm

Cold Case: Mystery kept alive
Sixteen years after a weighted body riddled with stab wounds surfaced in a Smithfield pond, investigators are appealing for new clues to determine the man's identity.


07/27/2003

BY THOMAS J. MORGAN
Journal Staff Writer


SMITHFIELD -- When the body was laid to rest, no one knew what name to chisel on the tombstone, and so today the short, slender man who floated to the surface of Stump Pond with 21 stab wounds 16 years ago lies in an unmarked grave, its location known only to the investigators who have kept his case alive.

"We never closed the case. We just ran out of leads," said Detective Sgt. Kenneth A. Brown Jr.

Retired Smithfield Detective Capt. Gregg L. Catlow, left, was the first to investigate the death of a man found floating in Stump Pond in 1987. Detective Sgt. Kenneth A. Brown, right, now handles the case. Catlow holds an FBI sketch of the victim.
Gregg L. Catlow was the first detective to investigate the case. Over the intervening years Catlow rose to the rank of captain, and has since retired. The file he started is now several inches thick.

Brown is the latest in the series of officers who have tried to puzzle through a maze of vague clues in search of an identity even as the calendar moves on. He's optimistic, however. "Time is always on the side of the investigators," he said.

One thing is for sure: Whoever last saw him didn't want the body found.

It was on June 18, 1987, on scenic Stump Pond, whose shore, ironically, is home to police headquarters, when a boater came across a decomposing corpse floating near a dam.

The man was festooned in chicken wire and ballasted by 90 pounds of rocks and barbell weights, all fastened by coaxial cable. He had 7 wounds on his head, 14 on his chest. The weapon was thought to have been an ice pick or similar instrument.



FBI sketch
1987 VICTIM: An FBI artist sketched the man's face as he presumably appeared in life.
Anchored by the weights, he had presumably lain out of sight on the floor of the pond for one to three weeks, according to the state medical examiner's office. As time went by, the gases of decomposition brought the body to the surface.

Five feet, five inches tall, the mystery man weighed 122 pounds and had a scruffy beard. He was between 25 and 35 years of age.

He had receding, straight hair, brown eyes and a brown mustache.

A black muscle shirt bore the inscription "San Juan" on front and back. He was clad in gray sweatpants, and wore no socks under his size 7 1/2 McGregor Tristar sneakers.

No tattoos adorned the body. There was neither wallet nor identification. There were no scars or jewelry.

The police were looking at a blank slate.

"Other than the physical description, there wasn't much to go by," Brown said. "He could be from out West. He could be from Mexico. We don't know."

Brown said that in his six years as a detective, the aging mystery "was one of those cases that always sat on the back burner."

As new technology became available, it was employed at intervals in a bid to find a lead.

DNA samples were available. But DNA, which was only just becoming a tool for criminologists when this man was killed, is useless unless it matches something already in a data bank. The DNA trail was a dead end.

New advances in fingerprint identification were developed in the past 16 years by the FBI. A computerized system now makes it possible to examine fingerprint records across the country.

But periodic checks have turned up nothing to provide a further clue to the man's identity. Like DNA, fingerprints only work if they have been recorded previously. This John Doe evidently never came to the attention of law enforcement, the immigration system or the military, all of which are assiduous in collecting fingerprints.

Because the body was gruesomely decomposed, Smithfield investigators turned to an FBI artist, who sketched the man's face as he presumably appeared in life.

Flyers were distributed. No response.

Brown said he decided to try again because so much time was passing, and the chances for a connection were slipping away.

He decided to appeal to the media, he said, before time erases all opportunity.

If the case fails to yield to Brown's persistence, it presumably will pass into the hands of his successor. If so, the trail can only grow longer, and likely colder.


COLD CASE CONTACT: Anyone with information on this case may contact Detective Sgt. Kenneth A. Brown at (401) 231-2500, ext. 35, or e-mail: dets@smithfieldpd.com



http://www.projo.com/extra/2003/coldcase/c...d28x.962d6.html

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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/ar/t6192.htm

Mystery Of John Doe

It's a murder that's gone Unsolved for sixteen years. But there's more to this mystery than finding a killer. Smithfield, Rhode Island police are desperately trying to identify the victim. In tonight's New England's Unsolved, FOX25's Bob Ward tells us this is a case that detectives are determined to break.

This case is both brutal and brazen. The victim was stabbed over and over, possibly with an ice pick. Then the killer dumped the man's body into a pond right across the street from the Smithfield, Rhode Island Police Department. No one knows the victim's name. But after all this time, police are still not giving up.

"You would think somebody somewhere would be missing him."

"He died a horrific death, no doubt."

Stump Pond in Smithfield, Rhode Island doesn't look like a crime scene. But in 1987, a grisly discovery was made here that's left a mark on investigators still trying to solve a vicious murder.

Det. Sgt. Kenneth Brown, Smithfield, RI Police: "The body was found out there, and ultimately, pulled up here."

On june 18, 1987, an object floated to the top of Stump Pond.

Capt. Gregg Catlow (Ret.), Smithfield, RI Police: "It was apparently a white male who was wrapped up in chicken wire. Tied with some weights, and rocks attached to him."

At first, the chicken wire, and 90 pounds of rock and barbell weights used to weigh the victim down, hid he fact that the man was stabbed to death. An autopsy later revealed he was stabbed 21 times..possibly with an ice pick. The brutality of the victim's final moments, is not lost on investigators.

Det. Sgt. Brown: "It was vicious. There's no doubt. Somebody was viciously killing him. Perhaps out of anger. Wanted him to pay for something. Because of the number of stab wounds. We can speculate this person was hated., and they wanted him to suffer."

But since 1987, this investigation has run into a brick wall. To this day police don't know the man's name. Since 1987 he's been known only as John Doe. And so far, the killer has gotten exactly what he wanted.

Capt. Catlow: "Given the manner of disposal of this body..the person didn't want this guy to be found."

All these years, smithfield police have been trying to give john doe his name back. It has been very frustrating.

Capt. Catlow: "We rolled his fingerprints and sent them to the FBI. They had no matches. And we've always kept them on file. Anytime someone had a missing person report, or any kind of inquiry from another department, we've provided them a copy of the fingerprints. But we've never had a match."

John Doe was killed before DNA technology was perfected. Still DNA might be able to help. It's hoped John Doe's DNA might reveal a family member.....And give this case its first solid lead...A name.

Det. Sgt. Brown: "By getting a name for the deceased, that will give us his associates. That will give us where he lived. His family members. What he did for a living. By getting a name we'll be able to trace his last steps."

In the meantime, Smithfield, Rhode Island's John Doe remains one of the state's most baffling cases. Incredibly, since 1987,..no one has reported this man missing.

Bob Ward: "John Doe was finally given a decent burial in 1992. And this is where he is..the pauper section of a cemetery in Providence. He has no name. He's just number 6549. And, as you can see, no one has been here to mourn him."

Det. Sgt. Brown: "The man is a human being. And somewhere out there, he has a family. And rightfully so, he deserved to be buried."

"We're not ruling anything out. We're outside the country looking for information. We're across the country looking for information. And were in the neighboring towns looking for information."

Bob Ward: "If you have any information about this case, please contact Det. Sgt. Kenneth Brown at the Smithfield, Rhode Island Police at (401) 231-2500 extension 35. Or you can e-mail him at dets@smithfieldpd.com. Smithfield, Rhode Island is close to Massachusetts and Connecticut. The victim and the killer could be from anywhere in New England.

Copyright 2000 FOX Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Please read our Legal Notices and Internet Privacy Policy.

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https://smithfieldpd.com/cold-case/

Cold Case


Please note that the following article from the Providence Journal is from 2003 – the case remains unsolved.



Providence Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

REFUSING TO GIVE UP: Retired Smithfield police Detective Capt. Gregg L. Catlow, left, was the first to investigate the death of a man found floating in Stump Pond, Smithfield, in 1987. Capt. Kenneth A. Brown, right, is the latest officer to handle the case. Catlow holds an FBI sketch of the victim.

Cold Case: Mystery kept alive
Sixteen years after a weighted body riddled with stab wounds surfaced in a Smithfield pond, investigators are appealing for new clues to determine the man’s identity.
07/28/2003

BY THOMAS J. MORGAN
Journal Staff Writer

Reprinted with permission.

SMITHFIELD — When the body was laid to rest, no one knew what name to chisel on the tombstone, and so today the short, slender man who floated to the surface of Stump Pond with 21 stab wounds 16 years ago lies in an unmarked grave, its location known only to the investigators who have kept his case alive.

“We never closed the case. We just ran out of leads,” said Detective Sgt. Kenneth A. Brown Jr.

Gregg L. Catlow was the first detective to investigate the case. Over the intervening years Catlow rose to the rank of captain, and has since retired. The file he started is now several inches thick.

Brown is the latest in the series of officers who have tried to puzzle through a maze of vague clues in search of an identity even as the calendar moves on. He’s optimistic, however. “Time is always on the side of the investigators,” he said.



FBI sketch 1987 VICTIM: An FBI artist sketched the man's face as he presumably appeared in life.

One thing is for sure: Whoever last saw him didn’t want the body found.

It was on June 18, 1987, on scenic Stump Pond, whose shore, ironically, is home to police headquarters, when a boater came across a decomposing corpse floating near a dam.

The man was festooned in chicken wire and ballasted by 90 pounds of rocks and barbell weights, all fastened by coaxial cable. He had 7 wounds on his head, 14 on his chest. The weapon was thought to have been an ice pick or similar instrument.

Anchored by the weights, he had presumably lain out of sight on the floor of the pond for one to three weeks, according to the state medical examiner’s office. As time went by, the gases of decomposition brought the body to the surface.

Five feet, five inches tall, the mystery man weighed 122 pounds and had a scruffy beard. He was between 25 and 35 years of age.

He had receding, straight hair, brown eyes and a brown mustache.

A black muscle shirt bore the inscription “San Juan” on front and back. He was clad in gray sweatpants, and wore no socks under his size 7 1/2 McGregor Tristar sneakers.

No tattoos adorned the body. There was neither wallet nor identification. There were no scars or jewelry.

The police were looking at a blank slate.

“Other than the physical description, there wasn’t much to go by,” Brown said. “He could be from out West. He could be from Mexico. We don’t know.”

Brown said that in his six years as a detective, the aging mystery “was one of those cases that always sat on the back burner.”

As new technology became available, it was employed at intervals in a bid to find a lead.

DNA samples were available. But DNA, which was only just becoming a tool for criminologists when this man was killed, is useless unless it matches something already in a data bank. The DNA trail was a dead end.

New advances in fingerprint identification were developed in the past 16 years by the FBI. A computerized system now makes it possible to examine fingerprint records across the country.

But periodic checks have turned up nothing to provide a further clue to the man’s identity. Like DNA, fingerprints only work if they have been recorded previously. This John Doe evidently never came to the attention of law enforcement, the immigration system or the military, all of which are assiduous in collecting fingerprints.

Because the body was gruesomely decomposed, Smithfield investigators turned to an FBI artist, who sketched the man’s face as he presumably appeared in life.

Flyers were distributed. No response.

Brown said he decided to try again because so much time was passing, and the chances for a connection were slipping away.

He decided to appeal to the media, he said, before time erases all opportunity.

If the case fails to yield to Brown’s persistence, it presumably will pass into the hands of his successor. If so, the trail can only grow longer, and likely colder.

Anyone with information on this case may contact
Capt. Michael Rheaume at 401-231-2500 or e-mail mrheaume@smithfieldpd.com.

Akoya

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This case is both brutal and brazen. The victim was stabbed over and over, possibly with an ice pick. Then the killer dumped the man's body into a pond right across the street from the Smithfield, Rhode Island Police Department.


Akoya

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