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Islas, Joaquin 1980/CAM800507; Sacramento County May 7 1980
Topic Started: Aug 15 2006, 08:37 PM (615 Views)
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Case Number 80-0783
Gender Male
Race Unknown
Estimated age Unknown
Height 5' 3"
Weight 136 lbs
Eyes Brown
Hair medium length wavy dark-brown hair with a receding hairline and some early graying
Date Found 05/07/1980
Date of Death Unknown
Case Information A citizen found this deceased (lying face down) in the almond orchard where he frequently ran his dogs. The orchard was located several hundred yards from Antelope Road and the Southern Pacific crossing in North Highlands. Distinguishing Characteristics
Scars/Marks/Tattoos
None

Clothing
The decedent was wearing a blue and black plaid flannel (or wool) shirt, a white T-shirt, brown corduroy pants, a belt, a red and white handkerchief protruding from his right rear pant pocket, dark loafer type shoes (with the right shoe heel worn more than the left), and light colored socks.
Jewelry
None
Other distinguishing characteristics
Victim had a gray-brown beard and moustache. Possessions found on him included: deck of playing cards, a plastic picture folder containing religious photos, and $1.60. Quicklinks

Phone: (916) 874-9320

Email: coronerweb.saccounty.net
http://www.coroner.saccounty.net/unID-80-0783.htm
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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...showtopic=17366
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Unidentified White Male


The victim was discovered on May 5, 1980 in North Highlands, Sacramento County, California

Estimated age: 30-50 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'23"-5'3" (63"); 136 lbs
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hair medium in length, wavy dark brown with receding hairline and some early graying; brown eyes. A gray-brown beard and mustache.
Clothing: He was wearing a blue and black plaid flannel (or wool) shirt; a white t-shirt; "Jockey: shorts; brown corduroy pants; a belt; a red and white handkerchief protruding from his right rear pant pocket; brown loafer type shoes (with the right shoe heel worn more than the left); white socks; black belt; and light colored socks. No jewelry.
Personal Effects: Possessions found on him included: A deck of playing cards, a plastic picture folder containing religious photos, a comb, and $1.60.
Fingerprints: Not Available
Dentals: Not Available
DNA: Not Available


The victim was found lying face down in an almond orchard located several hundred yards from Antelope Road and the Southern Pacific crossing in North Highlands, California on May 7, 1980.
The victim frequently ran his dogs in this orchard.

Sacramento County Coroner's Office
916-874-9257
Email
--
Department of Justice Missing Persons DNA Program
Jeannine Willie
916-227-5997
Email
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

Agency Case Number:
80-0783

NCIC Number:
U-470018324
http://coroner.saccounty.net/unID-80-0783.htm
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http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article130455024.html

FEBRUARY 2, 2017 4:55 PM
After 36 years, son finds out what happened to his missing father
BY ROBIN OPSAHL

Collaboration between the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office, an Arizona detective and an online crime-solving community helped a man put to rest the 36-year-old case of his missing father.

Joaquin Islas had left his family in Arizona to work in California in 1970. Hector Islas, Joaquin’s son, began the search for his father in March 1980 at age 16. Phone calls from Joaquin had stopped earlier that year, and letters to his last known address were returned in the mail.

Hector Islas said finding his father, who had divorced his mother and left to avoid paying child support, was a personal choice.

“I suppose we have a weird case here of the abandoned son saving the abandoner from a forgotten status,” Hector Islas said. “It’s been a journey of forgiveness for me, finding out what happened to (my father), and coming to terms with the fact that he was doing the best he knew how.”

Hector Islas started by filing missing-persons reports in Nogales, Ariz., and Los Angeles, in addition to sending inquiries to the Social Security Administration, and the Arizona and California offices of vital records. All of the searches came up empty.

“When the communications stopped around 1980 we thought, ‘OK, it’s very likely that he’s not alive anymore,’ and we started investigating in areas where we knew he had lived before, like Fresno county and San Joaquin county,” Hector Islas said. “But I never imagined that he would be as far north as Sacramento County.”

Joaquin Islas was found dead in an almond orchard in North Highlands on May 7, 1980, with just a deck of cards, a comb and some spare change in his pockets. An autopsy revealed he most likely died of liver failure.

Because he was not carrying identification, the Coroner’s Office was unable to determine who Joaquin Islas was. The Coroner’s Office made a sketch and put the case into its “unidentified persons” registrar, but the case went cold.

Although no one was able to help the Islas family in the 1980s, the rise of the internet allowed some key evidence to come together.

In 2006, the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office created an unidentified persons page on its website, which included a sketch of Joaquin Islas. In 2015, Tony Rodarte, an Arizona detective working with Hector to find Joaquin Islas, posted the case details and a photo on missing persons websites.

In early 2016, the website “Websleuths,” a forum that discusses crimes, trials and unsolved cases, discussed the possible connection between Islas’ unidentified persons case in Sacramento County and the missing persons report filed by Rodarte.

Hector Islas found the online discussion in March 2016, and contacted the Sacramento coroner.

“I’m grateful to Websleuths, along with the coroners and detectives who helped me work on finding my father,” Hector Islas said. “I think they’re superheroes of sorts for the missing and the unidentified.”

Even though not all the evidence matched up, the Coroner’s Office looked into the connection after Hector Islas contacted them. The coroner gathered DNA from Joaquin Islas’ corpse, and his son sent a DNA sample from his father for comparison. Using forensic technology, the Coroner’s Office was able to determine the DNA matched.

The unidentified man was Joaquin Islas.

Improvements in DNA testing and better communication through the internet mean more old cases like Islas’ are being solved, Sacramento County Coroner Kim Gin said.

In 2016, the Coroner’s Office identified Joaquin Islas and a person from a 1993 case using improved DNA testing. Gin said these improvements have the potential to help identify other missing persons if those filing the reports provide DNA samples.

“We are always submitting DNA on our unidentified persons and putting them online,” Gin said. “After that, it’s just a matter of working with police and family members to have DNA to compare it to.”

On Sept. 16, 2016, Hector Islas finally learned what happened to his father. Since then, he has been working to spread his story.

“There were a lot of times I just doubted that I’d ever find him. It seemed all so daunting. But I did finally find him,” he said. “I want to give others hope that they can find their loved ones, too.”
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