Orlando John Doe: Skeletal Remains at I-4 and SR-528 (2023)
Unidentified skeletal remains were discovered on May 20, 2023, in a wooded area near the interchange of Interstate 4 westbound and State Road 528 in Orlando, Orange County, Florida. A construction worker active in the area made the discovery. The decedent is believed to have been a white male between approximately 40 and 60 years of age at the time of death, and the case remains open.[1]
Discovery
On May 20, 2023, a construction worker found skeletal remains in wooded terrain at the junction of I-4 westbound and SR 528 in Orlando, Florida (ZIP code 32819). The Orange County Sheriff's Office responded and reported the case the same day under agency case number 23-031540. The District 9 Medical Examiner's Office, which serves Orange County, assumed primary jurisdiction and assigned case number 2023-001057.[1]
The I-4 and SR-528 interchange is within the footprint of the ongoing "I-4 Beyond the Ultimate" highway improvement project. This same interchange was the site of a separate skeletal remains discovery on October 16, 2021, when a motorist who had pulled off the road called the Orange County Sheriff's Office at approximately 9:09 p.m.[2] That 2021 case is distinct from UP106183.
Description
The remains were in a condition described as near complete or complete skeleton and were not visually recognizable. Not all parts were recovered; hands were not among the recovered remains.[1]
Forensic analysis established the following characteristics:[1]
- Sex: Male
- Ancestry: White / Caucasian
- Estimated age at death: 40 to 60 years
- Estimated height: 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet 5 inches (estimated)
- Estimated year of birth: approximately 1903 to 1943 per NamUs entry (reflecting a wide forensic interval)
- Estimated year of death: approximately 1963 to 1983 per NamUs entry; post-mortem interval estimated at 6 months
- Distinctive physical feature: edentulous maxilla and mandible (the individual had no teeth in either the upper or lower jaw)
Clothing found on the body consisted of a gray t-shirt and black undershorts without identification markers.[1] No personal effects or documents were recovered.
Investigation
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is the investigating law enforcement agency. The District 9 Medical Examiner's Office holds primary jurisdiction over the remains. No named persons of interest have been publicly identified, and no media coverage of this specific discovery has been located.
The decedent's edentulous condition eliminates traditional dental record comparison as an identification pathway. The absence of hands also removes fingerprint identification as an option.
As of the research date, no public confirmation exists that DNA has been extracted from the remains, that a CODIS entry has been created, or that the case has been submitted to an advanced forensic laboratory.
Agency Forensic Capabilities
The Orange County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit has an established working relationship with Othram, a forensic genomics laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas. In August 2022, the OCSO submitted forensic evidence from a 2000 homicide case (NamUs UP528, Laurence Rougeux Jr.) to Othram; DNA was extracted from partial skeletal remains, and the victim was successfully identified.[3] In 2023, the OCSO submitted evidence from a 1993 homicide case (NamUs UP553, Richard Wick) to Othram, which applied Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing and forensic genetic genealogy to generate investigative leads.[4] Both prior submissions involved unidentified white males with degraded skeletal remains in Orange County.
No DNASolves case page for UP106183 exists as of the research date, and no public confirmation of a submission has been made.
How to Help
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact:
Orange County Sheriff's Office Case number: 23-031540 Cold Case Unit: (407) 836-4357 Crimeline (anonymous tips): (800) 423-8477
District 9 Medical Examiner's Office Case number: 2023-001057
The NamUs case page for this individual is listed at namus.gov under case number UP106183.[1]
References
- "NamUs Case UP106183." National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. namus.gov
- "Skeletal remains found off I-4 in Orange County, deputies say." ClickOrlando, October 17, 2021. clickorlando.com
- "Laurence Rougeux Jr." DNASolves. dnasolves.com
- "Richard Wick (Florida)." DNASolves. dnasolves.com