NamUs MP#76322 -- San Bernardino John Doe from October 2020

By: Shane Lambert

Original time of writing: December 9th, 2020 

This individual was found deceased in San Bernardino on October 16th, 2020. 

The picture is taken from NamUs. It is an artist's rendition. At the original time of writing, this was the NamUs description:

"On Friday, 10/16/2020, at 5:07 pm, a 911 call was received reporting an adult Hispanic male transient with a fair complexion in a gutter near the curb in the 900 block of Mill Street, San Bernardino. The San Bernardino County Fire Department and the San Bernardino Police Department responded and confirmed the body deceased at 5:27 pm. There was no identification located on or near the body. The body was approximately 5'10” tall and 217 pounds. The hair on the head was short and brown and the eyes were brown. The face was slightly unshaven. The natural teeth were present. He was wearing a black and white polo shirt and blue shorts."

This is an interesting case to me. There is a description of him as transient and the fact that he was found in a gutter doesn't speak well to affluence. 

However, there are some indicators that he wasn't an unhealthy person in all ways. He had short hair which suggests recent grooming, he had only a "slightly unshaven" face which suggests the same thing, he had "natural teeth" which sounds like the authorities are trying to depict him as a well-taken-care-of person, and he had a brand-name shirt which implies that he had at least some modest money. I guess the artist's rendition might obscure things but he looks like a normal citizen to me instead of a homeless person. Also, at 217 pounds the weight for a 5'10" individual is pretty healthy.

Of course, being found in the curb gutter without ID will make anyone think you are transient. Here's a look at a couple of other cases where a John Doe was found in a gutter. I list such cases because I think history repeats itself. What happened in similar cases in the past could be food for thought for the future.

NamUs #UP11460: a white male in San Francisco is found in a gutter on June 15th, 1985. NamUs description says that there were "drag marks in the street leading up to the subject" and that he was wrapped in a blanket.

There are a lot of cases that I found in newspaper archives using the keywords "unidentified" and "found in gutter." In many of the cases, the individual was thought to have been dumped there.
  Mon, Dec 29, 1913 – 1 · The Chattanooga News (Chattanooga, Tennessee) · Newspapers.com

Questions for the San Bernardino John Doe: 

1. Were there drag marks? 
2. Was he wrapped in anything?
3. Was there any clue as to whether the individual was dumped there or died there?

If you are in the San Bernardino area, then please cross-reference this against the cases you know or the ones that come up.  My thoughts are that this man might have been someone whose economic life went to crap due to the COVID crisis and became transient or that where he was found was simply where someone left him.