UNIDENTIFIED:June 11, 1952 Tama County, Iowa Baby John Doe

 On June 11, 1952, road construction was happening along the route of U.S. Highway 30, about four miles west of Tama, Iowa. A construction worker discovered a box 350 feet east of the Raven Creek bridge on the south side of the roadway. The box was a Wilson Packing Company box marked “chili.” and was wrapped with a cord.

The worker would open the box to find something horrifying. Inside the box were two packages wrapped with newspapers and tea towels. Inside the packages was the horrifying sight of the body of a baby boy. The other package was the afterbirth. It was found that the baby had blunt force trauma to the head and the baby was alive for 2 and a half to 3 hours.

They were the April 17 and May 8 issues of The Marshalltown Times-Republican. The newspapers had no mailing address attached, but two “stars” were discovered in the newspapers. This indicated they had been delivered on a Marshalltown city route. One tea towel had the embroidery of a lamb in one corner and the other had the numeral 49 in black.

John Doe was a white male newborn. He was fully developed. He weighed 8 lbs and had blonde hair.

SOURCES:
Iowa Cold Cases

UNIDENTIFIED: February 10, 1952, San Pedro, California John Doe

 On February 10, 1952, the body of a man was found floating in the surf at the end of Barracuda St on Terminal Island in San Pedro, California by two fishermen. He was greatly decomposed when he was found and was missing body parts such as the legs below the knee and both arms. 

John Doe was between 20 to 25-years-old. He was between 6'0" and 6'5". 

SOURCES: 

NamUs

Unidentified Wiki

News-Pilot February 11, 1952 

UNIDENTIFIED: December 27, 1953 Los Angeles, California John Doe

 On December 27, 1953, an off-duty Los Angeles Police Officer was hiking in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California when he discovered skeletal remains scattered along the hillside. He had died around a year before and there was no evidence of violence on the skull. A broken phonograph was found nearby. It was the type to be used for home recordings so police suspect it was a suicide note. It's also believed that he was not wearing his pants when he died. v

John Doe was a man between 50 to 60-years-old. He was 5'0". He was wearing a grey hat with the initials 'STW', grey trousers, a white nylon shirt, a red sports shirt, and brown Oxford shoes. He had a pocket comb, black plastic lead pencil, a gold wristwatch 'Gruen' brand, a silver scapular medal and chain, a pair of old bifocal glasses, and a pair of horn-rimmed eyeglasses.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Unidentified Wiki

Daily News December 28, 1953

INFANTICIDE: March 1, 1952 Vernal, Utah Baby John Doe

 On March 1, 1952, the body of a newborn baby boy was found near a gravel pile on the West end of Vernal City Dump in Utah. He was wrapped in layers of heavy brown paper that were partially burned away. The body was also slightly burned on the back and the right leg. No burning had happened in the dump recently though. It could not be determined how long the baby had been dead as he had been frozen solid. It could have been up to several weeks though. 

The baby appeared to have been born alive and normal. He weighed between 7 to 8lbs and was 18-inches long. The baby was white with a dark complexion.

SOURCES:

Utah Department of  Public Safety

UNIDENTIFIED: January 16, 1952 Half Moon Bay, California John Doe

 On Jan. 16, 1952, the partial remains of a man were found on Miramar Beach at State Highway and Cabrillo Highway in Half Moon Bay, California. His hands and lower extremities were missing. It was estimated he was a white male between 40 and 50 years old. He was estimated to be around 5'10" and 200lbs. He was estimated may have died in 1951.

He was wearing blue Levi brand jeans and an Army Garrison leather belt with a brass buckle. His underwear was white with red and blue stripes. He had a Case 3-blade pocket knife and ten keys on a heavy chain. One of the keys was for a Yale Lock and was stamped with UN58357 ad GF.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Murder of Odessa Meister

 

On December 20, 1952, 35-year-old Odessa Meister left her home on Columbia Street in Cumberland, Maryland. She would board the Cumberland Transit Lines bus for work and be seen getting off the bus at the Celanese plant on McMullen Highway. Witnesses stated that she was seen approaching a car near the plant's gate after the driver honked the horn. After they talked for a few minutes she got into the car and was never seen alive again.

She wouldn't be seen for almost a month. On Jan. 16, 1953, two high school boys found her body on McNamee's Hill in a pile of cardboard and Life Magazines. She was lying face down 60 yards down the hill and approximately 100 feet west of the extension of Leiper Street. Her eyeglasses and handkerchief were found 50 yards from her body leading down to her. 

Odessa was beaten to death. She was hit about the head around 8 times with a blunt object like a tire tool or wrench. There was no sign of a struggle as her clothes seemed to be in good condition, but there was a bruise on the second finger of her right hand. It's believed that she was not beaten where she was found, but she did die there as blood was at the scene. Her stockings were not torn and would have been snagged on the brush in the area if she had walked there. It's likely her killer carried her unconscious body and dumped her there. 

SOURCES: 

Maryland State Police

Western Maryland's Historical Library

The Cumberland News Jan. 17, 1953

INFANTICIDE: August 26, 1952 Dunblane, Scotland

 On August 26, 1952, a newborn baby was found Thornhill to Callander Rd in Dunblane, Scotland. She was found lying among pieces of newspaper, garbage, and potato peelings. The baby was found alive and was murdered. Someone had shove portions of newspaper down her throat. It's believed that someone may have taken the child there in a garbage pail, probably by car, and disposed of the previous night.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

MISSING: Ralph Stutzman

 

On August 17, 1952, 46-year-old Ralph Stutzman spent the morning doing chores at his home in LaGrange, Indiana. He told his children to go to the house and then he went to take the cows to the field. He promised the children he'd be back at the house in 20 minutes, but he never arrived back.

It unknown what had happened to Ralph. It could be possible that he left willingly, but it's believed he may have met foul play. He didn't take anything with him and didn't state to anyone he was leaving. He occasionally gambled. The night before he spent the night playing a poker game with friends. It could be possible that someone settled a score with Ralph.

Ralph was 46 at the time and a white male. He was 5'0" to 7'0" and 100 lbs to 200 lbs.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Charley Project

Unsolved Murder of Beatrice Dain

 

On the night of August 15, 1952, 50-year-old Beatrice Dain went to the Regal Tavern in Syracuse, New York. She stayed until 1 a.m. the next morning. She was last seen talking to two men a short distance from the alley behind 141 James St. where her body was found. She had been beaten to death sometime the morning of August 16. It's unknown if these two men are involved in her death.

SOURCES:
Democrat and Chronical
Syracuse Police 

Unidentified: 1952 Gillespie County, Texas John Doe

 

In 1952 a body was found at Williams Creek, Texas. He was laid to rest with Christian ceremonies on April 10, 2007. John Doe was a young man. There is little information in this case.  

SOURCES:

Find A Grave

Unidentified Wiki

UNIDENTIFIED: September 30, 1952 Gilpin County Maria Doe

On September 30, 1952, a man went on a hunting trip in a wooded area in Gilpin County, Colorado. He spotted legs underneath a burned log and reported it to the police. The log was 7ft long and was in an unused gravel pit 100 yards from Highway 119 and 35ft from Clear Creek.

 The body belonged to a young woman who had been killed within the last month. She had blunt force trauma to her head, but it was unknown what her cause of death was. It was possible that the injury had killed her, but also possible that it simply knocked her unconscious and she was burned alive.

She's a white female between 17 and 30-years-old. She was around 5'7" and had brown/black hair. She would have had a notable overbite. A fragment of a turquoise sequinned blouse, metal rivets of blue jeans, and a sole of a shoe. She was wearing a whinstone necklace and earrings. A purse, small electric razor, and an empty lipstick container. A man's wedding ring with no setting was found near the scene.

This case is often known as Maria or Pyre Case.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Doe Network
Greeley Daily Tribune (October 1, 1952)

MISSING: Ione Ruth "Growt" Rehwinkle

Sometime in 1952 23-year-old Ione Rehwinkle was working at a local bar in Rochester, Minnesota. At the time she was divorced and a mother to a 1-year-old Son. Her family believes that she was abducted from her front yard or while she was working the night shift at the bar by sailors. They believe that she had been murdered.

The original records for her missing report were lost or destroyed so there is little information in this case.

Ione is a white female and was 23-years-old at the time. She's 5'4" and 115 lbs at the time.

SOURCES:
Find a Grave
NamUs
Charley Project