Know this man? Stark County authorities unveil reconstruction of unidentified man

CANTON ‒ New technology has given the Stark County Sheriff's Office another tool to use in its search for the identity of a man whose remains were found just before Christmas in 2001.

On Thursday, Sheriff George T. Maier debuted a 3D reconstruction of the face of the Black male whose skeleton was found in a field near an oil well road in the 2900 block of Trump Avenue SE in Canton Township.

"This young man, somebody loved him," said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who attended the reveal at the sheriff's office. "Somebody out there today knows who this young man was and we need the help of the public to be able to identify him. Everybody deserves to be known."

Yost said his office does not have jurisdiction in local criminal matters, unless invited by a local law enforcement leader or prosecutor. He said his office serves as a "force multiplier" by providing access to such expensive infrastructure as DNA labs and staff members such as the artist who created the model of the unidentified man.

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The forensic reconstruction was created by Samantha Molnar, a criminal intelligence analyst with the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who said the deceased was estimated to have been 21 to 44 years old. He was 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet tall.

She said missing teeth in the skull were believed to have fallen out during the time the body was lying in the open.

She said she creates facial reconstructions if remains cannot be identified by finger prints, dental records or DNA.

Stark County Chief Deputy Coroner Anthony Bertin said the man probably suffered a gunshot wound to his clavicle, or collarbone, which had been fractured by a projectile.

At the time the remains were found on Dec. 22, 2001, a farmer said he had not plowed the field for the past five years, indicating the death could have occurred anytime between 1996 and 2001. The bones were at the surface, not buried.

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Yost said mitochondrial DNA was extracted from the bones found in 2001 and did not match any databases.

No unrecovered missing persons from Ohio in the relevant time frame could be matched to the skeleton, according to Inspector William Jones of the sheriff's office.

He said nothing resulted from following leads received after the discovery.

Jones said some new details have become available due to technology and new information.

"We're going to start following up a little more if we can get an identification. There's really nothing further that can be done at this point with what we have as far as the bones are concerned," he said.

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Jones said more work could be done with an identification that would allow detectives to learn where the deceased lived and who his family is.

Maier said he was grateful for the "great collaboration" with the attorney general, BCI and their lab. He said his office will continue to work with them and Stark County Coroner Dr. Ronald Rusnak office on cold cases.

"We remain committeed to pursuing all leads in cold cases," Maier said. "We owe it to the victims of our community. We owe it to the victims of crime to continue to pursue the closure of these cases and we'll continue that endeavor."

Molnar asked people to report missing loved ones to law enforcement.

"If you have a friend or a family member that is missing, I just urge people to please call your local law enforcement agency, please call BCI and report them," she said. "So even if you don't think it's this John Doe in front of you today, if you think they could be a Jane or a John Doe somewhere else in Ohio or in the United States, just please call and make sure that everything has been done for that case. Make sure that they have DNA on file. Make sure that there is an active record that is out there and is being worked by the agency."

The Stark County Sheriff's Office may be reached at 330-430-3800.

Maier asked that people call his office if they know the identity of the person whose remains were found in 2001.

The attorney general's office has posted a bulletin about the case online at Volume-19-No-3-2001-Stark-County-John-Doe-FINAL.aspx (ohioattorneygeneral.gov).

Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.

On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR‒

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County authorities debut face reconstruction of unidentified man