There are still at least 10 people who were found dead in Michigan in 1967 that haven’t been identified.
Advancements in DNA testing techniques have been used to solve many cold cases across the nation. There are organizations like DNA Solves and the DNA Doe Project working to bring answers to families.
Earlier this year, Othram Inc. used Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) and Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to get answers in a 1983 cold case. The company specializes in recovering and analyzing human DNA using very small amounts of degraded or contaminated forensic evidence.
Michigan currently has 332 unidentified persons cases listed in the national database. Ten of those cases date back to 1967.
Here is a look at those 10 cases:
Baby found in incinerator
On Feb. 18, 1967, the body of a baby boy was recovered from an incinerator in the basement of a home on Collingwood Street in Detroit.
Man found in Detroit field
On March 27, 1967, the body of a man was found in a field near railroad tracks.
He is described as a white man, 5′9′' tall, and weighed around 125 pounds. He had graying hair that was short on the sides and longer on top.
It is believed that he was 45 to 55 years old. He was malnourished.
He was “shabbily” dressed in a dark-brown suitcoat, red plaid shirt, dark pants, gray socks, and black Oxford shoes. A bar of soap was found in the left front pants pocket.
It is estimated that he had been dead for one day before his body was found.
Anyone with information should contact Detroit police.
Newborn twins found dead in Shelby Township
On March 27, 1967, newborn twins were found dead near the side of the road in Shelby Township. Two teen boys were walking along Ryan Road, which was a dirt road then, when they found the newborn twins wrapped in plastic and a sheet.
The twins, a boy and a girl, were estimated to be between the ages of 2 months premature and 7 months old. Originally, it was believed that the newborns could have been stillborn but evidence showed at least one of them was alive.
The case was reopened in 2019 after Shelby Township Police Department Det. Lt. Terrance Hogan tracked down the remains and obtained a warrant to exhume them. Their bones were sent to two different labs with the goal of identifying relatives.
Anyone with information should contact the Shelby Township Police Department 586-731-2121. The case number is 2387-2019.
---> Investigators getting closer to answers 56 years after newborn twins found dead in Shelby Township
Man collapses on Detroit street while talking
On June 5, 1967, a man known as “Lee” collapsed on a street in Detroit while talking.
He was 5′8′' tall and weighed around 137 pounds. He was Black and is believed to have been 40 to 55 years old.
“Lee” had gray or partially gray hair, brown eyes, and was wearing blue pants, and a red multi-colored shirt. He had 97 cents in a change purse.
Anyone with information should contact the Detroit Police Department at 313-596-1800.
Man found dead in abandoned Detroit dwelling
On June 11, 1967, the decomposing body of a man was found on a box spring in the back of an abandoned dwelling in Detroit.
The man is described as a Black man, 5′6′' tall, and weighed around 112 pounds. He had black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing green pants and a green shirt.
Officials believe he had been dead for a week before his body was found. He may have been 40 to 50 years old.
Man found floating in shallow waters of Rouge River
On Sept. 8, 1967, a man was found floating in shallow waters near the riverbank of the Rouge River in Dearborn.
He is described as a Black man, 5′5′' tall, and weighed around 115 pounds. He had black hair that was short and curly, and brown eyes. He also had a mustache.
It is believed that he was 35 to 55 years old and had been dead for one week before his body was found. He was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with red and white stripes, tied in a not at the waist, dark-colored pants, and a strip of tan cloth tied around the waist as a makeshift belt. He had black shoes and socks.
There was a yellow piece of paper in his pants pocket that had the following information:
“WCTT BC 36164 Stolen Car and red 66 Pontiac Cocertible, 1967, DK57-25
WCTT BC 36165 Recovered Car
WCTT BC
WCTT BC 36141
Dated 9-1-67″
Anyone with information should contact Dearborn police at 313-943-2214.
Woman found dead in Detroit alley
On Sept. 30, 1967, the body of a homicide victim was found in an alley behind a home on Liddesdale Street in Detroit.
She is described as a Black woman, 5′4′' tall, and weighed 105 pounds. She had short, black hair, and brown eyes. There were stretch marks on her abdomen and an old healed vertical linear scar on her right shin under her knee. She had a thin build.
She was wearing a fishnet hose (thigh highs), a pink short peacoat, a short, above-the-knee bright red sleeveless dress, and a white wool sweater cardigan. She was wearing one size 8 black cloth shoe.
A photo of the victim is available online through NamUs.
Anyone with information should contact Detroit police at 313-596-1800. The agency case number is HF 67-7260.
Young woman murdered in Ottawa County
On Oct. 20, 1967, a young woman was found murdered in Blendon Township, Michigan. She had died from blunt-force trauma and strangulation.
She is described as a Black woman, around 5′8′' tall, and weighed around 100 pounds. She is believed to have been between the ages of 16 and 22. She had been dead for around 30 days before her body was discovered by hunters in a field near 48th Avenue and Fillmore Street.
Between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 17, 1967, a white Rambler car was seen in the woods on a trail where her body was “dumped.” That was three days before her body was found. It is unknown if the car was involved.
She was found wearing yellow/gold slacks, pink Bermuda shorts, and men’s light-blue socks with dark-blue and red diamond patterns on the side. She had an extra tooth behind the right upper incisor.
She had numerous healed scars, including scars along the upper right chest, the mid-sternal area (mid chest), lower right chest, at the right hip, right outer thigh, and her left thigh.
Other notable scars included a hyper-pigmented scar along the right side of her face at the jawline; three scars (all about 2cm long) on the right side of her neck; and a long (10cm) scar along her left chest, below the clavicle and extending toward the arm.
The Cold Case Team with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office is working with the DNA Doe Project to try and identify her. In May of 2022, the team announced that forensic genealogists provided them with several relatives to contact.
Anyone with information should contact the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office at 616-738-4680. The agency case number is 67-10200001/67-9403.
Man found dead in Detroit alley
On Nov. 22, 1967, a man estimated to be between the ages of 35-45 was found dead in an alley.
Two women found him dead in an alley behind 925 West Elizabeth Street in Detroit. The women had been in the alley half an hour prior to discovering him and had not seen anyone.
He is described as a white man with brown hair that was short and greying. He was clean-shaven and had gray eyes. His right thumb and left large toe had been amputated, extending to the tarsal and metatarsal bones.
He was found with 51 cents and a Zippo brand lighter. He was wearing light green striped pullover sweater, green corduroy pants, blue socks, black waffle-soled shoes, and a yellow watch that was missing its crystal.
Anyone with information should contact the Detroit Police Department at 313-596-1800.