Where Did I Come From? Who Am I?

You can call me Brian. My death was tragic. The story of my life is unknown. Who I am remains a mystery. The circumstances of my life have turned into a puzzle that needs your help to solve.

In August 2001, a fisherman found my remains. To be more precise he found a partial skull, my skull well some of it anyway. The fisherman was in a ditch off the St Francis River in Poinsett County, Arkansas. He called the authorities.

After examination they figured out I was teenager, that I was black and that I was male. They determined that I had a slightly healed fracture on the nasal bones. That’s about all they know. However, they are estimating that I stood about 5 feet and 8 inches. It’s believed that I might have been about 15 to 19 years old.

Someone came up with a composite drawing for what I MIGHT have looked like. I say MIGHT because the ears, the eyes, the hairstyle and so on are all estimations for what I MIGHT have looked like. They did the best they could with what they had to work with.

I think the hardest part of this tragedy is that they can’t narrow in more precisely on when I might have died. The official record states the probable year of death 0 to 2001. YIKES. Seriously? I guess I could have died two years earlier or forty or more years earlier. I hope someone can figure this out. The more precise the date of death, the more chance I have of becoming identified.

The good news to my story is that they have my DNA. So if someone out there thinks there is a chance I might be related they can have their DNA tested against mine to see if it matches.

Do you like solving puzzles if you do maybe you can help me figure mine out. Was I from Arkansas? The St. Francis River is part of the Mississippi River that joins Arkansas and Missouri. Wikipedia describes the area and course of the river as follows:

“The river rises in a region of granite mountains in Iron County, Missouri, and flows generally southwardly through the Ozarks and the St. Francois Mountains near Missouri's highest point Taum Sauk. It forms the Missouri-Arkansas border… and eventually exits the state at Missouri's lowest point in the "toe" at 241 feet. It passes through Lake Wappapello, which is formed by a dam constructed in 1941. Below the dam the river meanders through cane forests and willow swamplands, transitioning from a clear stream into a slow and silt-laden muddy river as it enters the flat lands of the Mississippi embayment. In its lower course the river parallels Crowleys Ridge and is part of a navigation and flood-control project involving a network of diversion channels and ditches along it and the Castor and Little Rivers. Below the mouth of the Little River in Poinsett County, Arkansas, the St. Francis is navigable by barge. It joins the Mississippi River in Phillips County, Arkansas, about 7 mi (11 km) north of Helena.

Along its course in Missouri the river flows through the Mark Twain National Forest and past Sam A. Baker State Park and the towns of Farmington, Greenville and Fisk. In Arkansas it passes the towns of St. Francis, Lake City, Marked Tree and Parkin as well as the St. Francis National Forest.

In addition to the Little River, tributaries of the St. Francis include the Little St. Francis River, which joins it along its upper course in Missouri; the Tyronza River, which joins it in Arkansas; and the L'Anguille River, which joins it just above its mouth.”

So many cities. So many locations. So many possibilities. So where am I from? How far did I travel? Can you help solve my puzzle and tell them where I came from and who I am?

If you think you can please call:

Poinsett County Sheriff's Office
870-578-5411

Reference:  Case # 723-01

NCIC # U980022357

VIEW HIS PROFILE DATA AT A GLANCE: Poinsett Arkansas John Doe August 2001