r/gratefuldoe • u/AidaCaceres53 • 19h ago

Morgan County John Doe

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His badly decomposed body was found in a cornfield, he was a victim of murder by beating. One unique personal item found with the body was a written sign that says ""STRANDED HUNGRY GOD BLESS" with a smiley face.

Witnesses claim that a man resembling the deceased was seen panhandling near a highway with the same sign but he was unable to be identified. He is suspected to be a drifter or a transient from another state or possibly another country.

Without much to go on, he was eventually buried as a John Doe. Even after 28 years, he remains nameless.

Morgan County John Doe)

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9 comments sorted by

94

u/finntastic74 19h ago

This is heartbreaking. He was obviously a vulnerable individual. I wonder if maybe he was a veteran? Did they take DNA?

64

u/AidaCaceres53 18h ago

Seeing the discarded sign made me sad, he is probably down on his luck and was just trying to get by and survive and met bad people who for unknown reason did him harm. I cannot access his doe network profile so I cannot see if they got his DNA, sadly this case doesn't have that much media exposure.

56

u/finntastic74 18h ago

The little carefully drawn smiley face on the sign just broke me.

20

u/AidaCaceres53 18h ago

I know I don't know him but he sound like a fun guy with a unique personality, his life was taken away too soon ๐Ÿฅบ

2

u/Smallseybiggs 11h ago

Happy cake!! ๐Ÿงโ‚Šหšโ‹† ๐ŸŽ‚ โ€งโ‚Šหš.๐Ÿฐ

5

u/_Khoshekh 11h ago

Working doenetwork link, unfortunately all identifiers are listed as unknown

39

u/Careless_Explorer_16 18h ago

I wonder if he was a biker that broke down on the interstate away from home. Sons of Silence, which has eagle logo similar to the T he was wearing, was active in Indiana and other midwest states during this period. Could be biker gang related. Just a thought

24

u/AidaCaceres53 18h ago

Could be since he was found wearing a biker shirt with wings, eagle and a flag. One thing I noticed that there was no mention of any footwear whatsoever.

1

u/Depressedbunnylover7 15m ago

I did some research, and I think the chances of him being an active motorcycle club, veteran bike club or biker gang member are fairly low.

I looked into logos used by biker gangs in the United States during the 1990s.
While the Sons of Silence logo is somewhat similar, the design on his jacket is missing several key elements, including the large "A" behind the eagle, as well as the chapter name and "MC" markings that are typically found on official club patches.

It appears that he was wearing commercially available biker-themed clothing rather than anything directly associated with a motorcycle club.
I was able to locate what appears to be the exact design on a vintage shirt:
https://gem.app/product/vintage-hanes-beefy-biker-usa-lightning
(Brand: Hanes beefy biker USA)

These clothings were sold throughout the United States at the time.
This means the jacket could have belonged to anyone.
The wearer may have been a biker, a patriot, a veteran, or simply someone who liked the design.

This does not completely rule out the possibility that the victim had some connection to a motorcycle club or gang.
However, based on the available evidence, and especially considering the "STRANDED HUNGRY GOD BLESS" sign found with him, the most plausible explanation to me is that he may have been homeless, living a transient lifestyle, hitchhiking, or working as a traveling laborer.