Summary
In May 2019, the remains of an unidentified individual were discovered floating in the Missouri River near the town of Tebbetts, Missouri, east of Jefferson City. It was determined that the remains were that of a male, estimated to be just under fifty years old at his time of death. The man was estimated to be between 5’ 8” and 5' 10” tall and weighed between 170 and 200 pounds. At the time of discovery, the man was not wearing any clothes.
An autopsy was performed, and it was determined that the man had several identifiable markings on his body, including scars on his left wrist and a large tattoo on his right chest. The tattoo was described as the letter “D”, which showed “J Diddy” above it and “J Dawg” below it. The "D" had lines through it that could possibly have been the combined initials "JD". He also had some facial hair on the left side of his face which appeared to be remnants of a beard. Due to the condition of his remains, no other identifying characteristics could be determined.
In June 2019, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP57928. Despite efforts to identify the man, no leads have yielded a match and the man’s identity remains a mystery. He became known as Callaway County John Doe.
In 2023, the Callaway County Sheriff's Office teamed with Othram to leverage advanced DNA testing and genetic genealogy to develop investigative leads in hopes of identifying the man. Anyone with information that could aid in the investigation is encouraged to contact the Callaway County Sheriff's Office at 573-642-7291 and reference case number 19-9537.
A DNASolves crowdfund has been created to raise funds for the remaining casework costs. Anyone can contribute here. We are grateful for your support.
Michael Vogen
Director of Case Management
Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.