Ohio authorities are hoping to identify a man whose remains were found 35 years ago and have released images of a facial reconstruction in the hopes that someone may recognize him.
The man’s partial skeletal remains were discovered on September 10, 1987, near Mount Hope Cemetery in Youngstown, Ohio, according to a news release from the state Attorney General’s office. Investigators believe the remains were at that location for 3 to 5 years before they were discovered, the release said.
Anthropological analysis suggests the remains belong to a Black male between the ages of 30 and 44 years old, the office said.
Images of the clay reconstruction were released Thursday showing the person’s face at several angles. Authorities are asking anyone with information about the “John Doe” to reach out to the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office.
“This face represents a brother, son or father who needs to reclaim his identity and be given the dignity that he deserves,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in the release. “BCI assists law enforcement and helps families reunited with their loved ones because everybody is somebody to someone.”
In a public bulletin released to the public, the attorney general’s office cautioned that the artist who created the reconstruction added features such as a hairstyle as “estimations to complete the image” but they “should not be considered as significant markers for identification.”
His weight, height, hair color and eye color are unknown, the office said.
Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office and the Youngstown Police Department collaborated to release the reconstruction, the release said.
Youngstown is about 75 miles east of Cleveland.