Hello friends!
Steve Stockton here with you!
Welcome to our latest video.
Today we're going to be discussing the strange case of the Colorado John Doe
Join us...
In June 2020 a group of teenagers were hiking in the Lost Creek Wilderness Area
in the Pike National Forest in Bailey Colorado when they came across human skeletal remains.
Disturbed by what they had found, the teenagers contacted the local police
department and within hours a crime scene had been cordoned off and a search was underway.
Details surrounding this case are sparse and according to an article
written for “The Mountain Mail” by Kelly R. Kirkpatrick, the local police brought
in sniffer dogs the day after the remains had been reported as well as sending out searchers.
This search turned up more human bone fragments
as well as personal items that are believed to belong to the deceased in question.
According to the Park County Coroner’s Office, the remains found
belong to a man between the ages of 25 and 50, around 5’5” to 6’0” with a shoe size of 10 ½.
The article for “The Mountain Mail” also lists that items recovered during the search were
“Hiking poles, a star-of-life knife, an Atlanta Braves cap, size 10 ½ shoes, Carmex lip balm,
a Samsung S4 phone, a shotgun and a pair of size 40 shorts along with a few other misc items.”
When asked to comment on the case, Park County Coroner David Kintz Jr said “We
think the death probably occurred about one year prior to the hikers’ discovery.
We’ve had some tips, but no solid leads as of yet.
We have submitted information into the National Missing Persons Database,
but we have had no hits there, either. So we’re batting zero so far and hoping someone out there
knows something that could eventually result in a positive identification of the deceased.”
Also according to Kintz Jr, not enough bones,
or bone fragments were recovered in order for a facial approximation sketch to be made.
All photographs pertaining to the case are of the
belongings that are assumed to have belonged to John Doe.
Two years passed without much media attention or movement in the case,
however on March 8th 2022 the Facebook Page “Never Forget Me” posted a brief summary of the John
Doe’s case and was met with a flurry of comments, giving possible suggestions of his identity.
Emma (our staff writer) reached out to the contact listed on John Doe’s
NAMUS profile to ask whether there is an official list of rule outs,
however, she has not received anything back from NAMUS at the time of this recording.
With that in mind, people on the Facebook Page gave multiple suggestions of who this
John Doe could be and I will walk you through each of the possible matches, one by one.
Possible Matches
As previously mentioned, people on Facebook and other social media platforms
have suggested a few possible matches.
Some of these cases have lots of information whilst others not so much.
Anthony Potter 50-year-old Anthony Potter
was last seen on June 29th 2019 walking to a friend's house in Wahoo, Nebraska.
After this, Anthony has not been seen or heard from again
and after failing to return home, his family reported him missing to the Wahoo Police.
According to a KETV article written in September 2019
“Potter was possibly seen in early July near the Memphis State Park in Memphis, Nebraska”.
Aside from this, there is little information about Anthony’s disappearance.
Anthony was 50 years old at the time of his disappearance and was 5’11 with brown hair
and blue eyes, putting him in the height parameter for the John Doe found in 2020.
According to reports, the Wahoo Police Department has conducted numerous searches for Anthony
including calling around homeless shelters, as at the time of his disappearance he was homeless.
Anthony was last seen wearing jogging pants and a light blue t-shirt and had three tattoos;
a peace sign on his left hand, FTW on his right shoulder and For Mom 4-18-6 on his left forearm.
It is also listed that Anthony may have a scar on the back of his head.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Wahoo Police Department on 402-433-4155.
Jacob Cameron Paddock-Weeks
The next possible match that was suggested was 27 year old Jacob Cameron Paddock-Weeks.
Jacob was last seen on February 2nd 2019 near Mile Post 246 in Jefferson County, Colorado.
According to The Charley Project, at the time of his disappearance, Jacob had been involved in an
accident near Mile Post 246 where he had crashed his white Dodge Ram pickup truck into a guardrail.
It appears that this incident was minor and it is listed as ‘one-car accident’,
but Jacob’s next moves would baffle investigators.
The Colorado Highway Patrol was summoned to the incident shortly after,
but when they arrived at the crashed Dodge Ram, Jacob was nowhere to be found.
After interviewing witnesses, they established that soon after crashing,
Jacob had taken off running.
Other witnesses placed him at an RTD Park-n-Ride in the area. His behaviour
struck the Highway Patrol as odd, that was until they began digging a little further.
It turns out that at the time of the incident, Jacob was on probation after
picking up a few charges, one of which was driving under the influence. Inside his car,
Highway Patrol found his ID, wallet and phone along with substance paraphernalia.
Now knowing that Jacob had already picked up charges
for driving under the influence and the fact that he was on probation,
the Highway Patrol reasoned that Jacob was afraid of picking up another charge.
Unfortunately, despite extensive searches for Jacob,
nothing has ever been found and he has not made contact with his friends or family,
something that is out of character for him and he is very devoted to his loved ones.
Jacob’s family created the “Find Jacob Paddock-Weeks”
Facebook Page where they continue to advocate for Jacob and other missing persons in the area.
Jacob Paddock-Weeks was last seen on February 2nd 2019
in Jefferson County, Colorado and is described as a white male with blonde hair and blue eyes.
He is 5’8” to 5’11”, 140 - 150lbs and was last seen near his White Dodge Ram pick up truck.
Jacob has his left eyebrow pierced along with the following tattoos: A spade symbol with ‘Love Life’
on the left side of his abdomen, ‘Warrior’ on his right forearm, ‘Colorado’ with mountains and a
sunset in the background on his left forearm and a winged skull holding a tire on his left calf.
Jacob fits both the age and height parameters for the John Doe discovered in 2020,
as well as the location parameters.
His family are desperate for answers and anyone with information is urged
to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on 303-271-5195.
David O’Sullivan David O’Sullivan
is just one of the many people who has disappeared whilst hiking
along the Pacific Crest Trail that runs from California right up to the US-Canada border.
David was also suggested as a possible identity for the John Doe found in 2020
and here is a brief overview of his case.
On March 20th 2017, David left his home in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland
and was headed for the U.S, more specifically the Pacific Crest Trail.
David had been training for months back home in Ireland,
hiking up mountains and peaks to prepare himself for his once in a lifetime trip.
Two and a half weeks into his dream trip, David reached the town of Idyllwild
where he caught up with friends and family via Facebook.
According to his mother, Carmel “He arrived into this little town on the 5th called Idyllwild,
it’s about halfways up the mountain two and a half weeks into his hike… He did a few chores,
got in touch with all his friends on Facebook and contacted us - everything was going fine. And he
was leaving on the morning of the 7th (April) and he’s not been heard of or seen since.”
It was almost as if David had dropped off the map
and as weeks passed without making contact with his family, they knew something was wrong.
His parents knew that naturally, given the nature of his trip,
David wouldn’t be in constant communication with them but
call it mothers intuition, Carmel just knew that something was amiss.
Carmel tried to report her son’s disappearance to the Pacific Crest Trail Association,
but they were incredibly reluctant to act.
Carmel and others in David’s life kept pushing until finally,
on June 30th they listened and officially filed a missing person report.
By that time, it was almost too late.
The Pacific Crest Trail and search and rescue groups launched multiple
searches for the missing Irishman but failed to find anything of significance.
David never made contact with his loved ones after leaving Idyllwild and now,
almost 5 years later, his family are still fighting for answers.
David is described as a white male, Irish citizen, 25 years old,
5’10”, 154 lbs with black hair and blue eyes.
He carried a distinctive bright blue backpack and
was making his way along the Pacific Crest Trail alone.
David fits the age and height parameters of the John Doe
and anyone with information is asked to contact the Murrieta Police Department on 951 696-3615
or the Pacific Crest Trail Association on 916 285-1846.
Tyler Gorrell 33-year-old Tyler
Gorrell was last seen on August 3rd 2018 on West 10th Avenue and Hazel Court in Denver, Colorado.
According to his family, Tyler was expected to show up at a family event later that day,
however, he never arrived.
His family knew that this was very out of character for him
and immediately began trying to contact and find him.
When it became apparent they wouldn’t be able to find him alone,
they called in the help of the Denver Police Department.
According to a Denver Post article written in 2018
“The family searched his house and went through his papers after he went missing,
but they couldn’t find any sign of where he’d gone. It was actually the Denver Police’s use
of location data that gave searchers an approximate area for his car.”
A week after Tyler failed to turn up at a family event,
the Denver Police, along with Alex Gorrell, Tyler’s brother discovered his grey Ford
Escape SUV near the Rock Creek Winter Trailhead near Silverthorne in Summit County, Colorado.
Alex later told the Denver Post that his brother was not one to go on a
random hike through the wilderness, let alone be gone for days at a time.
It was also very out of character for Tyler not to have contacted his family
with Alex adding that he adored his nieces and nephews and was always there when they needed him.
After the discovery of Tyler’s SUV, the Denver Police Department and the Summit
County Search and Rescue Teams continued their hunt for Tyler but to no avail.
Since that fateful day in August 2018,
Tyler Gorrell has not been seen or heard from and his family are now desperate for answers.
Alex and other family members routinely traverse trails in the area where his
brother's car was discovered, handing out leaflets and hoping that someone recognises
his brother and has information that may lead to his recovery.
Tyler Gorrell was last seen on August 3rd 2018 in Denver,
Colorado and his car was later found near the Rock Creek Winter Trailhead on August 10th.
He is described as a white male, brown hair, brown eyes, 5’9” and 200 lbs. Tyler has a
tribal style tattoo on his back just below his neck and usually wears his hair in a ponytail.
He may have been carrying a grey backpack at the time of his disappearance but it is
unknown whether he was carrying any other camping equipment.
Tyler falls into the age and height parameters for
the John Doe discovered in 2020 as well as approximate area.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective John Brinkers of the Denver Police
Department on 720 913-2000, alternatively, you can email him at john.brinkers@denvergov.org.
James Hudson Jr The final possible identity
that was put forth was that of 48-year-old James Hudson Jr of Coffee County, Georgia.
The details of James’ disappearance are incredibly sparse
and all we know is that James was last seen on October 16th 2017.
According to an article written for KKTV in 2018 “The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office says
they have reason to believe he (James) may have been in Colorado in the last couple of months.”
The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office has not released why they think James was in Colorado
or how they obtained this information.
We also do not know who reported him missing or really anything else about his disappearance.
James is described as a white male, 5’6” with brown hair and hazel eyes. He fits both the age
and height parameters but without any further information, it is hard to guess either way.
Anyone with information on the disappearance of James Hudson Jr is asked to contact the Coffee
County Sheriff’s Office on 912-384-4227 or the Coffee County Non-Emergency line on 912-384-7675.
There are a few possible
matches for the John Doe discovered in Colorado in 2020 and with his profile being entered to NAMUS,
it’s reasonable to assume that a DNA sample has been obtained for comparison too.
If you have any information in regards to the 2020 Colorado John Doe you are asked to contact David
Kintz Jr of the Park County Coroner’s Office on 719 836-4340 quoting case number 2020-035.
No matter how small or insignificant you believe the information to be,
it may just be the tip that blows the case wide open and gives this John Doe his name back.
Well there you have it folks!
What do you think of these possibilities? Is there one that you favor more than the others?
I look forward to your comments but please keep it friendly and respectful
in the meanwhile be good to yourselves and each other!
Stay safe out there and I'll see you just a little farther down the trail.
I'm Steve Stockton and i'll talk to you next time.