In May 1997, skeletal remains were located in a field off of Haggerty Road in Plymouth, Michigan. The discovery was made in the west Detroit suburb when a man interested in purchasing the property was conducting a survey. The citizen reported coming across a piece of rolled up carpet that, when opened, revealed human skeletal remains along with several articles of clothing and jewelry. Authorities responded to the scene, and it was determined that the carpet and remains had been there for multiple years.
A death investigation was initiated, and investigators determined that the remains belonged to an adult male. It was estimated that the man was about 5’8” tall. The man’s weight was unknown but based on the size of shorts found on the body, investigators believed that the man was slim. It was determined that the man likely died due to a head injury and his death was ruled a homicide. Over the years, investigators pursued leads in hopes that the man could be identified, including investigating the origin of the gold class ring found on the man’s body, testing on the clothing and ballistics testing of a .357 slug found with the remains.
In 2015, traditional DNA testing was done and uploaded to CODIS was performed as part of the investigation into the man’s identity, but there was no match to a known individual. Details of the case were entered into NamUs as UP11420. For decades, investigators worked to identify the man including appealing to the public for any information that could be helpful…