St. Tammany Parish coroner requests help in identifying 40-year-old remains

ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. (WGNO) — The St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office has asked for the public’s help to identify remains found decades ago.

According Dr. Christopher Tape, in October 1984, skeletal remains were found by hunters on the bank of the West Pearl River near the Louisiana and Mississippi state line.

Coroner’s office officials stated their attempts to identify the individual have been unsuccessful with the different methods of advanced technology.

“Every decedent deserves an identity,” Tape said

An analysis was done by the DNA Lab in 2019 and uploaded to the national Combined DNA Identification System and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System but made no match.

An anthropological examination revealed the remains were a man, possibly mixed race, and between 18 and 40 years old, according to experts. They add that the man had possibly been dead for 10 before the remains were discovered which estimates his death to be between 1940 to 1975.

The LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Lab in 2023 made a forensic sketch of the individual with an estimation of his hairline and complexion.

Cold Case Investigator Chris Knoblauch said he believes the man was from Mississippi.

“Cases may grow ‘cold’ but they are never ‘closed’ until we know the name of the person. His life mattered, and it didn’t stop mattering when he died. I hope someone may recognize the computer-aided likeness and contact us,” said Tape.

Anyone with information on the case can call the Coroner’s Office at 985-781-1150.

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