Murder of David Stack

David Stack

Yearbook picture of David Stack, circa 1975
Born David Arthur Stack
July 5, 1957[1]
Died June 9, 1976 (aged 18)
Tooele County, Utah
Cause of death Homicide by firearm
Body discovered June 10, 1976
Resting place Tooele City Cemetery, Tooele County, Utah (formerly)
Nationality American
Other names Tooele County John Doe
Citizenship United States
Known for Former unidentified decedent

David Arthur Stack (July 5, 1957 – June 9, 1976) was an American man who was murdered while hitchhiking from his home in Broomfield, Colorado to California.[1] Stack was murdered by an unknown assailant or assailants while he was in Wendover, Utah and his body was found a day later in a landfill in rural Tooele County, Utah. His body remained unidentified for 39 years until he was linked to the unidentified man through dental comparison and later through DNA.[2]

Disappearance

David Stack graduated from high school in 1975 and later decided to hitchhike, likely to visit relatives in California.[2][3] He had been last seen on June 1, 1976 at his residence in Broomfield, Colorado. After his departure, he was never seen again; the relatives who lived at his presumed destination had never witnessed his arrival.[2] While being treated as a missing person before his body was identified, Stack was excluded from thirteen other unidentified decedent cases.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

Discovery and examination

Reconstruction of the victim, created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

A young man's body was located in a landfill in Tooele County, Utah on June 10, 1976. The victim was estimated to be between seventeen and twenty-two years of age, and had dark brown wavy hair that was shoulder-length with a faint mustache and beard, and brown eyes.[17] He was clothed, wearing a tan or gray shirt, jeans with patches on the knees and a black belt.[18][19] He was estimated to be five feet nine inches tall and at a weight of 170 pounds at the time of his death and had an O positive blood type.[17] He was believed to have been seen alive in the nearby town of Wendover, Utah at approximately 3:00 PM, a day prior to the discovery of his body.[17][19] Distinctive features on the male were a white scar on his forehead, a vaccination scar on his left shoulder and another on his left wrist.[17][19] On his right foot, he had hammer toe deformities, which may have been due to wearing tight-fitting shoes or possibly other reasons.[18][19] After the examination of his body was complete, the young man was buried in the Tooele City Cemetery, after the case remained unsolved.[20]

Stack's unidentified persons report was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Database in June 2010, where details of the case were released to the public in effort to identify him.[18] This case was eventually reopened by law enforcement in 2014.[2] The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was also contacted by the Tooele County police department and created a forensic facial reconstruction of the subject by using mortuary photographs as an influence to create a likeness of his facial features. Subsequently, a poster was developed by the organization that was displayed to the public in hopes that he would be recognized by someone who may have known him in life.[19] The cause of the victim's death was determined to have been two gunshot wounds to the head.[3] This detail was not released to the public until a major break in the case developed.[2]

Identification

In May 2015, authorities announced a break in the case. The body was believed to be that of David Stack, although further testing was required to absolutely confirm this. Stack's dental records were noted to be very similar to the John Doe's, as police stated and they expressed that they were "confident" that the body was that of David Stack.[2] The victim was exhumed to obtain DNA evidence to confirm if he was Stack and DNA was also collected from his surviving relatives for comparison.[2][20] Results of the DNA testing were initially believed to take as long as six to eight months.[2] However, it was reported on August 11, 2015 that the DNA testing matched both the unidentified body and David Stack's relatives, less than three months after the match through dental records was made.[3] His body, currently being stored in a morgue after his exhumation, will be transported to his family for reburial.[3] Authorities stated that one explanation why the potential match had taken years to take place was due to the reason that "communication between departments in other states" was not as advanced as such that exists today.[2] Another reason was because the victim carried no form of identification.[20]

Since he was identified, investigators hope that new details may emerge in the currently unsolved murder, as some subjects with knowledge about the circumstances of Stack's disappearance or murder may "come forward."[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "David Arthur Stack". Colorado.gov. Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Body found in Utah decades ago is likely Broomfield teen missing since 1976". Broomfield Enterprise. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Oliveira, Nelson (11 August 2015). "DNA confirms missing New Milford teen was killed in Utah". NewsTimes (Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC). Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "NamUs UP # 2229". identifyus.org. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Postmortem photo at link"Case Report - NamUs UP # 4428". identifyus.org. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  6. ↑ "NamUs UP# 5263". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "NamUs UP# 6548". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "NamUs UP# 6719". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "NamUs UP# 11248". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "NamUs UP# 10908". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "NamUs - National Unidentified Persons Data System". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "NamUs - National Unidentified Persons Data System". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "NamUs - National Unidentified Persons Data System". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "NamUs - National Unidentified Persons Data System". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "NamUs - National Unidentified Persons Data System". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "NamUs UP# 6278". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Case File: 2461UMUT". doenetwork.org. The Doe Network. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 "NamUs UP # 8318". identifyus.org. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 "John Doe 1976". missingkids.org. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  20. 1 2 3 Reavy, Pat (15 May 2015). "'John Doe' buried in Tooele 39 years ago believed to be missing Colorado man". KSL. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
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