In December 2023, the Natchitoches Parish Coroner’s Office (NPCO) announced that funding had been secured to advance DNA testing in its effort to identify the remains of an unidentified male discovered in October 2005 near Clarence. The individual was found inside a drum encased in cement, and despite extensive investigative work over the past two decades, his identity remains unknown.
Traditional identification methodsโincluding DNA profiling, dental comparisons, and facial reconstructionโhave not produced a match. The case was also featured on the series Killing Fields, where additional DNA techniques were explored, but those results did not lead to an identification.
To continue moving this case forward, the Coroner’s Office partnered with Othram to utilize advanced DNA technology and forensic genetic genealogy. This method has helped solve numerous longโstanding cases across the country, and the NPCO remain hopeful it will do the same here.
SUMMARY: dnasolves.com/…/natchitoches-parish-john-doe-2005
In October 2005, a 55-gallon oil drum was found partially submerged in a shallow creek on private property in Clarence, a small community in rural Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. A portion of the oil drum had rusted out exposing skeletonized human remains encased in cement. The discovery was made by the property ownerโs son. The Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory was able to remove the remains from the surrounding cement and they were submitted to the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Laboratory for assistance with identification. The man’s manner of death was determined to be homicide.
The remains were determined to belong to a black male who was approximately 18 to 30 years old and 5โ6โ to 5โ10โ in height. It was determined that the man had been deceased for as few as one and as many as twenty-five years. A cotton-blend shirt and medium Hanes brand boxer shorts were the only personal items recovered. LSU FACES utilized advanced forensic imaging and facial reconstruction to create an image depicting what the man may have looked like during his life in hopes that it would generate leads in the case.
Multiple individuals have been ruled out as being Natchitoches Parish John Doe. Dental x-rays of the decedent were utilized for comparison, eventually ruling out the manโs identity as that of Lester Davis and Jeremiah Parker. The case was featured in the film series, โThe Killing Fieldsโ where standard DNA testing excluded the possibility that the remains belonged to Curtis โCochiseโ Smith. In 2008, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as case number #UP846. Despite law enforcement’s exhaustive efforts to identify the man, the case has gone cold.
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Progress continues, though it remains slow. Because this case dates back to a time when both forensic DNA databases and consumer DNA testing were far more limited, the initial DNA profile had very few potential matches. Todayโs genealogical tools allow law enforcement to pursue leads that simply did not exist in 2005.
The NPCO is actively working through those leads, narrowing both paternal and maternal lines of descent as more data becomes available.
The office’s commitment to this case has not wavered. It will continue pursuing every viable lead until this gentlemanโs identity is known and his family can be located.
Steven M. Enlow Clanton, Coroner
Natchitoches Parish Coronerโs Office
**This image attached is a forensic facial reconstruction produced by the LSU FACES Laboratory to depict what the individual may have looked like.
