Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Akron authorities recently unveiled the forensic facial reconstruction of a man whose skull was found in January 2016 on a sidewalk in front of a burned out home.
The clay model was created by a forensic artist with the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) in an effort to help identify the man.
"Someone out there knows who this man was, and we are all very hopeful that someone will see this model and notice a resemblance to a missing friend or family member," Attorney General DeWine said at the July 14 news conference.
The rest of the man’s remains were found in the debris at 1345 Marcy St., Akron.
The home had been abandoned when it caught fire and was extensively damaged in 2012. Earlier searches of the house had not uncovered the remains. Authorities believe someone exploring the collapsed structure found the skull and left it on the sidewalk so it could be discovered.
An anthropologist who examined the man’s remains said he is believed to be a white male between 30 and 55 years old. He was about 5 feet 9 inches tall.
At the time of his death, the man was wearing layers of clothing. Several items were found with the remains, including a belt, black shoes, and keys. More information and photographs of the clay bust were sent out to all law enforcement agencies in the state.
DNA was extracted from the remains and compared to the state database with no match.
BCI Criminal Intelligence/Missing Persons Analyst Samantha Molnar performed the reconstruction.
Using a CT scan of the skull provided by the Ohio Valley Surgical Hospital in Springfield, Molnar worked with The Ohio State University to print a 3-D plastic replica. Molnar built the clay reconstruction on the plastic replica.
The Akron facial reconstruction is the first created by BCI in northeast Ohio, but the fourth reconstruction statewide.
For more information and photos related to the case, visit the Ohio Attorney General's website to see the
BCI public bulletin.
A Greene County Jane Doe was identified as a Florida woman following BCI’s creation of a clay model in December 2016. A Jane Doe reconstruction and John Doe reconstruction were created for separate cases in Marion County earlier this year. Those cases have yet to be solved.
To see
Facial Reconstruction, a video about the process at BCI, visit the
"Videos" section of the Ohio Attorney General's website.
To read about unidentified remains found in Ohio, visit
"Unidentified Remains" page on the Attorney General's website.
Anyone with information on the Akron John Doe is asked to contact the Akron Police Department at 330-375-2490.