[ChgoCubby]

On September 14, 1977 a young caucasian male estimated in his early to mid 20's was involved in a fatal automobile accident in Delafield, WI. He had no id on his person and today remains unidentified.

I'm starting this thread here, in the event someone may recognize him. He has family and friends somewhere who we are hoping to locate so this special man can be named and brought home.

An amateur reconstruction is available at the following link.
Delafield John Doe Reconstruction pictures from public service photos on webshots

There are also fairly clean morgue photo's but not knowing the rules, I don't want to add them here.

Case details:

• 
  UNIDENTIFIED WHITE MALE
  
  [SIZE=2]
• The victim was discovered on September 14, 1977 in Delafield, Waukesha County, Wisconsin
• Estimated Date of Death: September 14, 1977
• Cause of Death: Injuries from a fatal car accident[/SIZE]
  

[SIZE=2][SIZE=2]Estimated age: 17 - 25 years old
Estimated Year of Birth: 1952 - 1960
[/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=2][SIZE=2]Approximate Height and Weight: 5' 8" - 6' 0"; 150 - 170 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair; brown or hazel eyes; medium complexion. Old scar on dorsum of right hand over first metacarpal; old scar over upper outer edge of left patella; uncircumsized; extensive chest hair.
Dentals: Not Available; upper front dentures.
Clothing: Long sleeve blue, white, and gray striped shirt; black and gray checkered pants with a brand name "Gaedes"<; green "Jockey" shorts; gray and black herring bone coat with black fur collar; blue socks; brown crepe soled shoes.
Personal Effects: He had a cigarette lighter with the inscription "To John Love Lauri", and a "Waltham" brand wristwatch.
DNA: Not Available;

CASE HISTORY
[/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=2][SIZE=2][SIZE=2]The victim had been operating a stolen vehicle from Illinois and was involved in a fatal car accident in the vicinity of County Highway SS and Golf Road in Delafield, Wisconsin on September 14, 1977.[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]


Gaedes is a now closed mens clothing store in downtown Wheaton, IL.
Wheaton is also the location of the court house and jail, so we have theorized he may have been incarcerated, or a witness or part of a trial.

The car he was found in was stolen in Gurnee IL.

Authorities at the time put out several media articles to identified him, but were unsuccesfull.

There is quite a bit of case discussion on this John Doe at Websleuths:
WI WI - Delafield - Male HC 680, 17-30, Sept 1977 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

thank you for looking!

[ChgoCubby]

Pulled from a post at Websleuths, with some additional information.

One thing not stated in the reports, which he told me I am free to share, was that JD did have a wallet on him. No identification, of course, was found...but there was a card for a local RV/Camper dealership on the Wisconsin/Illinois border. The dealership has exchanged hands many times over the past 33 years and the owner back in 1977 is deceased. He did state his desire to go there himself and talk to anyone there, perhaps to find out or see employee records from 1977 in hopes that perhaps our JD worked there.

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - WI WI - Delafield - Male HC 680, 17-30, Sept 1977


Off the top of my head, I don't know/recall the name or address of the RV Dealership. While the name has changed several times, perhaps the address would help. I should be able to get this information, if one thinks it would help.

[ChgoCubby]

Also found with this John doe was a set of keys with several automobile keys for different makes/models. It is possible he was an automobile mechanic.

[Duine]

Often times a car thief has numerous keys from all sorts of cars. I once caught a guy trying to steal mine but the silly guy didn't know how to start it. He ran off and left a ton of them hanging in the ignition. Police got a kick out of that after they caught him close by, he didn't live in the area and had no transportation. 8)

I also read posts about this man. It made a reference to his mismatched clothes and a watch that might possibly been an older model type. If this guy stole a car, it is possible he stole random, outdated clothes & the watch from somewhere too. It's also possible he got clothing out of a salvation army or other sort of large bin where people left donations. This might have been someone released from a local jail. If he had an empty wallet with only a business card, he could have had an accomplice who emptied the wallet so he couldn't be identified which could mean he would be linked to the victim if he was identified.

[ChgoCubby]

Thank you Duine. Those are all viable possibilities. We hadn't considered the possibility of an accomplice. He was alone in the vehicle when the accident occured. The car was a 1962 Pontiac Catalina, which we think he stole randomly. A crime of chance so to speak.

He was actually in the process of being pulled over for improper lights for foggy conditions. The officer who tried to pull him over hadn't yet known the car was stolen.


I don't know what else may have been in the wallet. Unfortunately in the early 80's all the evidence was thrown away in this case when it was deemed unsolvable. ugh... so what remains are notes.

I'd love to find a Wheaton, IL 'historian' or community volunteer who might be able to shed some light on this as well. Maybe someone who knew of progams for wayward men at the time.

I tried DuPage County FOIA to see if any inmate information or booking information was available based on description versus name, but that was another lead that went no where.