Authorities hope that DNA evidence will finally lead to a breakthrough in a homicide that dates back more than five decades.
The cold case first opened in 1969.
On August 29 of that year, Danny Little, then 15, found an abandoned barrel in a field. He discovered it had a body inside it, the Cleveland Scene explained in a story on Monday (March 15).
Since then, the victim has been known as a John Doe.
Investigators know that "John Doe" was a Black man who suffered nine gunshot wounds and had his legs dismembered, among other gruesome injuries. That was confirmed by the Cuyahoga County Coroner at the time, Dr. Charles Hirsch. Police only managed to observe unique details about the victim — including a tattoo of the name Sally — but could never conclusively pinpoint his identity, according to the Scene. Investigators believed the Black Panther Party might have had ties to the crime, reports show.
Fifty-two years later, though, the case is cold.
And that’s where The Porchlight Project comes in.
“When a loved one goes missing, friends and neighbors show their support by keeping their porch light on. The Porchlight Project was formed to lend special help to cases of abduction and murder that have gone cold,” the Ohio nonprofit organization reads. “We provide free private investigative services, funding for DNA testing, and media support for a few new cases every year.”
The former Cleveland Scene writer spotlighting the 1969 cold case is also founder of The Porchlight Project. James Renner has also appeared on CNN, the Discovery Channel, hosts Lake Erie’s Coldest Cases on Discovery ID, and more, according to his bio.
"This is a piece of Cleveland history that remains untold,” Renner said in a press release from The Porchlight Project. “We’re excited to provide the means to finally give a name to this man so that we can learn how he came to be here and who may have wanted him dead.”
Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson said in the release that his office would “never give up hope” to bring justice to families, even if the case has gone cold.
With full funding, The Porchlight Project made it possible to test the victim's DNA, aiming to find likely relatives of the man.
That, hopefully, could finally reveal the true name of John Doe.
Photo: Getty Images