Chain of Custody & The Wooded Ravine Discovery
On April 10, 1977, timber surveyors walking through a heavily wooded ravine off U.S. Route 1, approximately three miles south of Ashland in Hanover County, Virginia, discovered human skeletal remains concealed beneath leaf litter and fallen branches.
Deputies from the Hanover County Sheriff's Office and investigators from the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (Central District) processed the scene. The body was completely skeletonized, with taphonomic bone weathering indicating a postmortem interval of six to eighteen months, placing the homicide between late 1975 and 1976.
Forensic Pathological & Anthropological Assessment
The autopsy and skeletal profiling were conducted in Richmond, Virginia. The decedent was an African-American male, estimated between 17 and 25 years of age, standing approximately 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall and weighing approximately 150 to 170 pounds.
The cause of death was definitively ruled homicide resulting from multiple gunshot wounds to the thorax. Ballistics examination recovered small-caliber lead bullets lodged within the rib cage and thoracic vertebrae. Remnants of blue jeans, a leather belt, and work boots were recovered, but no wallet or identification was found. He was cataloged in NamUs as UP6642.
Active Genetic Genealogy Investigation
In 2021, the Hanover County Sheriff's Office partnered with the DNA Doe Project. Skeletal elements were processed for high-density SNP genotyping, successfully generating an autosomal DNA profile uploaded to GEDmatch Pro to reconstruct regional family pedigrees.