Reconstructions of the victim; victim's jewelry. To view post-mortem of the victim, click here.
Identified...Identified...Identified
Reconstructions of the victim; victim's jewelry. To view post-mortem of the victim, click here.
Date of Discovery: August 9, 1976
Location of Discovery: Sumter County, South Carolina
Estimated Date of Death: Less than 24 hours
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Homicide by gunshot
Estimated Age: 18-30 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 6'1 1/4"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Two 2-inch scars on his right shoulder area. 4" appendectomy scar. Athletic build. Skin was smooth, with olive undertones. Victim was possibly an aficionado of contact sports, judging by the suggestive scars on the back of his shoulder.
Dentals: Available. Extensive dental work. Very elaborate dental work with crowns and bridges. Crown on left front tooth, acrylic or porcelain. Fillings in most of upper teeth and has some missing teeth in top and bottom but noticeable in top back left. Missing wisdom teeth on the bottom in the back.
Fingerprints: Available.
DNA: Available.
Clothing: Faded Levi blue jeans, a red t-shirt with Coors America's light beer on the front and Camel Challenger G-T Sebring 75 across the back. It most likely came from the 1975 Coors sponsored Sebring Races in Florida.
Jewelry: Bulova Accutron yellow gold watch, serial number H918803 on his left hand. Bulova made the piece in 1968. But the company destroyed its records when downsizing shortly thereafter, so no one knows where the watches were distributed. A 14 karat gold ring with a gray linde star stone that had the initials "JPF" engraved on the inside.
Additional Personal Items: Inside his pants pocket were a box of Grants Truck Stop Matches. They had likely come from a truck stop in the Midwest.
In 1976 this male and his companion were found dead on a secluded Sumter County, South Carolina dirt road between Interstate 95 and SC 341. They were located by a truck driver who pulled off to rest at what was commonly known as Locklair Road, a frontage road just off the interstate. Neither had any identification. They had both been shot in the throat, chest and back.
On August 9, 1976, a man living in the sticks between Sumter and Florence heard a car scuttling down a narrow frontage road connecting Interstate 95 to S.C. 341. Someone climbed out. Gunshots echoed in the early morning, then the car raced back onto the highway.
They had no money on them, but there were several clues that led investigators to believe that the couple might have been well-to-do or perhaps even from another country.
Investigators wondered if they had been hitchhiking cross country, or if they had been victims of a carjacking.
They were a clean-cut looking pair. Authorities speculated they might even be brother and sister. DNA testing, however, later proved they were not related.
No drugs or alcohol were found on their bodies. They were not smokers. And neither had on underwear.
Investigators had checked out every lead, including trying to identify them through their fingerprints and using the serial number on the man's watch in hopes of trying to track down the jewelry store where he might have bought the piece of jewelry. Officials with Interpol as well as U.S. Customs investigators and immigration authorities also had been alerted. Contact were made with agencies in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and in the Mediterranean.
A forensic dentist in Spartanburg charted the young man’s mouth and the American Dental Association published his findings, hoping a dentist somewhere would recognize the work. The dead man had undergone extensive dental work, including fillings, root canals and crowns. No dentist ever came forward.
The autopsy revealed the pair had eaten fruit or ice cream with fruit not long before they died so investigators were certain the two must have bought the food from a local eatery or store. Someone remembered seeing a couple matching the dead couple's descriptions at a fruit stand that was located off the Florence Highway, but the person couldn't say whether the man and woman were with someone else or if they were riding in a car.
Months after the homicide, an employee of KOA campgrounds near Santee, S.C., called authorities, believing he had earlier made friends with the dead man, who went by the name “Jock,” according to documents in the case file.
Jock, or more likely, Jacques, stayed a few days at the campgrounds with his young female companion, then left for Florida. He and his girlfriend stopped at the campgrounds again on their way back.
The two men became friends. While shooting pool, Jacques told the KOA worker he was the son of a prominent doctor in Canada who had disowned him for giving up on his own career in medicine. He was taking a vacation of sorts, traveling the country aimlessly.
Before leaving, he tried to pawn an expensive ring to the employee, who later told authorities that the ring had looked a lot like the one found on the mystery man.
Inside his pocket was a book of Grants Truck Stop matches, which could only be found in Idaho, New Mexico and Nebraska. Authorities think Jacques passed through these places on his travels.
Agency Name: Sumter County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Randy McQueen
Agency Phone Number: 803-436-2790
Agency Case Number: 76672 Sumter SO
Agency Name: Sumter County Coroner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Verna Moore
Agency Phone Number: 803-436-2111
NCIC Case Number: U-240001056
NamUs Case Number: 13772
NamUs
Wikipedia
South Carolina Snitch
Sumter County Sheriff's Office
WIS TV
WLTX 19 (6/12/07)
Added: 7/22/00; Last Updated: 4/4/18
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information may be estimated.
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