Indiana State Police hope an internet web site can help crack a cold case: a man killed 30 years ago has never been identified and neither has his killer.
We do want to warn you -- we are going to show you the man's body in the morgue.
It was Christmas Day of 1977 when a body was found in a drain culvert at the intersection of State Road 335 and Highway 150 in Floyd County. The victim was never identified.
“This case will never be closed until it's solved.” Sgt. Jerry Goodin wants you to take a good look at these pictures.
This is a composite sketch of the 18-25 year old man on the DoeNetwork.org web site. Indiana State Police sent the site these pictures from the morgue with hopes that someone would come forward.
doenetwork.org
Indiana State Police are hoping to identify this body, which was found in 1977
“If you don't know who the victim is, it’s hard to lay any groundwork on where they could have been or what was going on with them,” says Goodin.
Police don't want anything from anyone other than a name. Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward in the case.
“We feel like there is a witness or we feel like there is someone who has been told, and we're asking that person to come forward and that person can remain anonymous,” says Goodin. “We don't want their name, we want their information.”
With DNA technology, John Doe victims are virtually a thing of the past. Indiana State Police have submitted this man’s DNA, but getting a match from before 1977 is very unlikely.
Police say they have reason to believe the man was from Louisville. They think he still has family living silently right across the river still today.
“But the family members are scared to come forward because they feel they may have to pay a funeral bull or an autopsy bill or something. That couldn't be further from the truth. There is absolutely no liabilities involved with recovering this body,” says Goodin.
That nameless body was buried at the cemetery in Greenville in an unmarked grave -- somebody's son, somebody's brother, somebody who deserves a name.
Web story produced by Jay Ditzer
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