Artist's rendering of male skeletal remains found in 1984 (Courtesy of St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office)
A man whose remains were discovered back in 1984 is still unidentified, and the coroner in St. Tammany Parish needs your help. Hunters found the remains below the I-59 bridge on the bank of the West Pearl River near the Mississippi state line. Coroner Dr. Christopher Tape says exactly when the man died is unclear.
“We discovered it in ’84, but we think it may have been there ten years. So, you’ve got to think back maybe seventies, late sixties, early eighties, so cast a wide net in your family history,” Tape said.
Dr. Tape says even though only the bones remained, through genetic genealogy, investigators were able to establish some characteristics.
“We think he’s mixed-race. We know he’s male. But his age is a big range, anywhere from 18 to 40 when he died,” Tape explained.
Tape says the circumstances surrounding the man’s final moments are unclear.
“He could be anywhere from a homeless person, a transient, to somebody who was murdered, maybe, or somebody just disappeared,” Tape said.
Tape says while they’re not ruling out murder, it’s unlikely that foul play was involved, given the lack of evidence of any injuries before death. He says there was a pocket watch and a bell with the body, and the skull had an extra tooth.
Anyone with information that could assist in this investigation is encouraged to contact the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office
at 985-781-1150.
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