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TXM871115; Twin Buttes Nov 15 1987
Topic Started: Sep 19 2006, 08:41 PM (349 Views)
100PercentFound
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Case Number: U8711003
Race: White/Hispanic
Agency: Tom Green County Sheriff's Office
Hair: Brown
Date Found: 11/15/1987
Estimated Date of Death: 5 - 6 months
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http://doenetwork.us/cases/62umtx.html

Unidentified White/Hispanic Male

Located on November 15, 1987 at Twin Buttes Reservoir in Tom Green County, Texas.
Estimated Date of Death: 5 - 6 months prior to discovery
Even after an autopsy, a cause of death could not be determined.
No signs of foul play.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vital Statistics


Estimated age: 17 - 30 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'6 - 5'11; 145 - 175 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Dark brown hair; unknown eyecolor.
Clothing: Levi jeans, size 34 x 30; Jockey shorts, size 34; and white socks. There was little clothing, no jewelry, identification or personal property with the body.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Case History
The victim's was found in knee-high grass near the north shore of Twin Buttes Reservoir. On November 15, 1987, two boys stumbled across the skeletal remains near the northeast corner of Twin Buttes Reservoir's north pool, just off Farm-to-Market Road 2166.
The body was there five or six months and was thoroughly decomposed, making identification impossible.
Investigators searched the site for clues but found none. There was no sign of foul play or evidence suggesting how the man got there.
The cause of death was never determined.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this man's identity, please contact:
Texas Department Of Public Safety
512-424-5074
OR
Tom Green County Sheriff's Office
All information may be submitted anonymously.

Agency Case Number:
U8711003

NCIC Number:
U-890001243
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information: Texas Department Of Public Safety

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http://web.gosanangelo.com/archive/99/october/31/3.htm

10/31/99

Who is Twin Buttes John Doe?

By DANNY HAYES
Staff Writer

The place where they found the body looks different now.

The thick, knee-high grass that concealed the decomposed corpse for months is gone, replaced by stands of brushy cedar trees. All that remains is the emptiness of the site and the haunting knowledge of an unsolved mystery.

While the appearance of the area Ä near the north shore of Twin Buttes Reservoir Ä has changed dramatically, the 12-year-old investigation into the death of the Twin Buttes John Doe has made little progress.

Investigators are no closer today to learning the young man's identity or solving how he died than they were on a windy November 1987 day when they found his decayed remains hidden in a grassy field.

That, however, could change this week.

A forensic artist at the Department of Public Safety in Midland is expected to complete a facial reconstruction, providing the first glimpse of what John Doe may have looked like.

The rendering likely will be publicized in a press conference late this week, and investigators hope someone will recognize John Doe and provide them with clues to his identity and ultimately the cause of his death.

``Identifying him will be like blowing up a dam,'' said Lou Camelbeek, an investigator with the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department who has handled the case since the beginning. ``The information will just come flowing out.''

The case is essentially about an unidentified body, but Camelbeek and others said they've never forgotten that John Doe was someone's son, and possibly a father or brother.

``The whole purpose of doing (the reconstruction) is getting this body identified, and the whole purpose in that is that whoever is missing this person in their life can have some closure,'' said Shirley Timmons, the DPS forensic artist.
The Saga

If the case is solved, it will be the end of a long, frustrating journey for Camelbeek.

``I don't know how I'm going to feel when I find out who he is,'' he said, standing in the scrub brush just yards away from where the body was found. ``It's been sitting there gnawing at me.''

Since 1987, the veteran investigator has followed up on more than 100 leads that didn't pan out, fought a mountain of red tape to get the body exhumed and seen it sit for years at the DPS headquarters in Austin.

``There's been a lot of frustration,'' he said.

The saga began on Nov. 15, 1987, when two boys stumbled across the skeletal remains near the northeast corner of the reservoir's north pool, just off Farm-to-Market Road 2166.

The body Ä eventually determined to have been there for five to six months Ä was thoroughly decomposed, making identification impossible.

No jewelry, identification or personal property was found in the area, and the body was clad only in a pair of blue jeans, size-34 jockey shorts and a pair of white tube socks.

Investigators combed the site for clues but came up empty-handed. There was no sign of foul play or any evidence suggesting how the man got there.

An autopsy conducted by the Bexar County Medical Examiner in San Antonio yielded little more than a basic profile: a white male with brown hair between the ages of 23 and 30, 5-feet-6-inches to 5-feet-9-inches tall, 150 to 170 pounds. The cause of death was never determined.

Three days after John Doe was found, Camelbeek received a promising tip.

A group of people who spent the Fourth of July at Twin Buttes said they encountered an unknown man that day, gave him some food and never saw him again.

A composite sketch fit the age and race profile for John Doe, and Camelbeek even recognized the man in the sketch. He even found a backpack that contained the man's identification.

But a phone call erased what had appeared at first to be a great lead.

``I called his grandmother and she says `He's working at Dunkin' Donuts,'°'' Camelbeek said, who later confirmed that the young man was indeed alive and well.

Camelbeek said that's the closest he's ever gotten to identifying John Doe.

To make matters worse, the body was buried before Camelbeek finished his investigation.

Camelbeek wanted to have the body exhumed for a facial reconstruction but encountered roadblock after administrative roadblock.

Finally in July 1994 Ä six years after John Doe had been laid to rest in Lawnhaven Cemetery Ä an exhumation order was granted. Camelbeek sent the skeletal remains to the DPS lab in Austin, hoping a facial reconstruction would finally give John Doe a real name.

But like so many times before, it didn't work out.

With one forensic artist and skeletons coming in from all over the state, John Doe sat in Austin for years, never getting a full facial reconstruction.

``At DPS, when I went to pick this guy up, there was a closet of them,'' Camelbeek said.

When the forensic artist retired in August, Camelbeek drove John Doe from Austin to Midland, where Timmons began her work.
Reconstruction, at last

Timmons said the rendering should be finished this week.

Rather than traditional clay reconstruction, Timmons is using a newer technique. She'll produce a front and profile drawing of what John Doe looked like.

Using eraser-like tissue markers and charts that correspond to age, race and gender, Timmons said she can reproduce the shape of John Doe's face. ``It looks like a skull with little things glued on it,'' she said.

After photographing the skull, Timmons said she'll make two freehand drawings of the face, adding facial features using general rules taught in portrait drawing.

This is Timmons' second reconstruction since she learned the craft at the FBI Academy.

Her first effort, on a body found in Hudspeth County, hasn't resulted in an identification yet, but Timmons is hopeful this one will be more successful.

``I just can't imagine having a loved one disappear and not knowing whether they're alive or dead,'' she said.

Camelbeek, as much as anyone, is keeping his fingers crossed that the reconstruction will crack the case.

Even if it doesn't, he said, he's too emotionally invested in finding out who John Doe is to give up.

``I think even after I retire I'm not going to drop it,'' he said.

The thought that a bereaved family member has spent the last 12 years wondering what happened to John Doe has stuck in Camelbeek's mind throughout the investigation.

``I think it's always there,'' he said. ``Somebody's missing somebody there, and I've got him and I want to bring them together.''


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http://www.amarillo.com/stories/110199/tex_LD0638.shtml

Web posted Monday, November 1, 1999
1:35 p.m. CT

Investigators baffled by 12-year-old slaying

SAN ANGELO (AP) - Investigators have been frustrated for more than a decade in their efforts to learn who killed a man whose decomposed body was found in knee-high grass near the north shore of Twin Buttes Reservoir.

They said they hope a forensic artist at the Department of Public Safety in Midland can provide a first glimpse of what the unidentified victim looked like and perhaps inspire someone to offer clues to his identity and ultimately the cause of his death.

"Identifying him will be like blowing up a dam," said Lou Camelbeek, an investigator with the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department who has handled the case since the beginning in 1987.

"The information will just come flowing out," Camelbeek told the San Angelo Standard-Times in a story published Sunday.

Camelbeek and others said they've never forgotten that John Doe was someone's son and possibly a father or brother.

"The whole purpose of doing (the reconstruction) is getting this body identified, and the whole purpose in that is that whoever is missing this person in their life can have some closure," said Shirley Timmons, the DPS forensic artist, told the newspaper. She said she hopes to have the rendering ready later this week.

If the case were solved, it would be the end of a long, frustrating journey for Camelbeek, who followed more than 100 leads that failed to pan out.

"I don't know how I'm going to feel when I find out who he is," he said. "It's been sitting there gnawing at me."

On Nov. 15, 1987, two boys stumbled across the skeletal remains near the northeast corner of Twin Buttes Reservoir's north pool, just off Farm-to-Market Road 2166.

The body was there five or six months and was thoroughly decomposed, making identification impossible.

The victim wore only a pair of blue jeans, size-34 jockey shorts and a pair of white tube socks. He had no jewelry, identification or personal property.

Investigators searched the site for clues but found none. There was no sign of foul play or evidence suggesting how the man got there.

An autopsy conducted by the Bexar County Medical Examiner in San Antonio yielded a basic profile: a white male with brown hair between the ages of 23 and 30, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, 150 to 170 pounds. The cause of death was never determined.

The body was buried before Camelbeek finished his investigation. In July 1994, an exhumation order was granted. Camelbeek sent the skeletal remains to the DPS lab in Austin, hoping a facial reconstruction would give John Doe a real name. But with one forensic artist and skeletons coming in from all over the state, John Doe sat in Austin for years, never getting a full facial reconstruction.

Camelbeek said he hopes Timmon's drawing will crack the case.

"Somebody's missing somebody there, and I've got him, and I want to bring them together," he said.

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http://web.gosanangelo.com/archive/99/november/5/1.htm

11/5/99

12-year-old body now has face

By DANNY HAYES
Staff Writer

Twin Buttes John Doe finally has a face.

Twelve years after investigators found the decomposed corpse near the north shore of Twin Buttes Reservoir, authorities on Thursday revealed black-and-white composite sketches of what the young man looked like.

Investigators still do not know whether the man's death was the result of natural causes or a homicide.

``Once we get the identity of the victim, we should be able to follow up'' on the cause of death, Tom Green County Sheriff Dan Gray said at a press conference.

The facial reconstruction was done by Shirley Timmons, a forensic artist with the Department of Public Safety in Midland. Timmons used eraser-like tissue markers and charts that correspond to age, race and gender to reproduce the shape of John Doe's face.

``I feel really good about the drawing, because when you have a skull that's in as good a shape as that one, you've got all the properties all mapped out,'' she said. ``It's like a road map.''

Investigators hope the publication of the sketches will catch the attention of someone who recognizes John Doe and give them clues to the circumstances of his mysterious death.

The sketches and a basic description of the man - a white male with brown hair, 23 to 30 years old, 150 to 170 pounds, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall - will be sent to several law enforcement and missing person publications.

Gray is confident someone will put a name with the face.

``It may take a little while, but I think we'll be able to get him identified,'' he said.

A resolution of the case has eluded investigators for more than a decade.

John Doe's skeletal remains were discovered Nov. 15, 1987 by two boys fishing near the reservoir. The body - eventually determined to have been there for five or six months - was decomposed so badly that identification was impossible.

There was little clothing, no jewelry, identification or personal property with the body, and there was no sign of foul play. Even after an autopsy, a cause of death could not be determined.

Investigator Lou Camelbeek has handled the case from the beginning, never knowing what John Doe really looked like when he was alive.

Seeing Timmons' drawings this week was exciting, he said.

``I'd been chomping since last week ... wanting to see it,'' he said.

The investigation eventually resulted in more than 100 leads that never panned out and a mountain of red tape in trying to get the body exhumed for a facial reconstruction.

Like Gray, Camelbeek is optimistic the publication of the sketches will crack the case. Since news reports of the case were published last weekend, Camelbeek has received several phone calls, including two from Dallas and one from Mason, from people who had a relative disappear.

None of the tips has been helpful, but Camelbeek hopes to be deluged with more calls in the coming weeks.

``I hope I can't get off the phone,'' he said.

Anyone with information about the case can call the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department, (915) 655-8111.
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http://web.gosanangelo.com/archive/99/november/25/5.htm

11/25/99

Mystery case gets attention

By DANNY HAYES
Staff Writer


In the three weeks since a composite drawing of the Twin Buttes John Doe was released, the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department has been deluged with tips from not just Texans, but Californians and Canadians.

``We're getting quite a few possibilities,'' said Lou Camelbeek, the investigator handling the case. ``Some are pretty easily dismissed.''

Camelbeek estimates he's gotten close to 60 leads about the identity of the mysterious body, more than half as many as in the first 12 years of the investigation. About 10 of those have been eliminated as possible matches, and the others will be checked in the coming weeks.

Two possible matches out of Canada have been found on the National Crime Information Center database, and a Canadian Mountie in British Columbia has contacted the sheriff's department about a missing person.

Camelbeek hasn't followed up on those leads yet, but the fact that tips are coming from as far away as Canada is an encouraging sign that the case is getting substantial attention.

Tips also have come from California and Texas towns such as Ballinger, Mason, Lubbock and Livingston, Camelbeek said.

A number of people from West Texas called after the facial reconstruction sketches were publicized in the news media.

Several responses have come from people who ``see the article and they say they had a brother who's about that height, and he's been missing since 1987,'' Camelbeek said.

John Doe's skeletal remains were found in November 1987 near the north shore of Twin Buttes Reservoir. The decomposed corpse, which had been there for five months before being discovered, had no identification.

Medical examiners never determined a cause of death, and investigators have never been able to identify the man.

After District Attorney Stephen Smith granted an exhumation order in 1994, the body was held for years at the Department of Public Safety lab in Austin.

But earlier this month, a DPS forensic artist in Midland completed a facial reconstruction of John Doe's skull, providing the first composite sketches of what the young man looked like.

The sketches and a description of the man - a white male with brown hair, 23 to 30 years old, 150 to 170 pounds, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall - will be published next month in a statewide DPS publication and some national law enforcement bulletins.

The additional publicity could provide more leads for Camelbeek, who already is juggling his daily assignments with the John Doe case.

But after 12 years of frustration, getting the facial reconstruction completed was worth the work.

``It might pay off one of these days,'' he said.

Anyone with information about the case should call the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department at 655-8111.



Contact Danny Hayes at dhayes@texaswest.com or 659-8260.
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