Credit: DA Quinn's Office
The “Unidentified Bodies Project” initiative has resulted in the positive identification of a victim whose identity was unknown for 17 years, and the onset of a renewed suspicious death investigation. In April, Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn announced the expansion of his successful Cold Case Unit to include a renewed effort to identify unidentified bodies and human remains from the past 40 years.
On Aug. 29, 2005, the Fall River Police Department received a report of a body that was located at the BFI landfill site on Airport Road in Fall River. Police responded to the scene and observed the body of an African American man who appeared to be approximately 5’8”, 180 lbs. and between the age of 30-40 years old. The body was recovered and transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy was conducted.
The autopsy revealed that the man’s body showed signs of decomposition and the Medical Examiner determined the man had died within approximately a week of his body being discovered. A further search at the landfill in the area where the man was found suggested that his body might have been transported to the landfill in a dump truck from Peabody or the North Shore area. Attempts to identify this individual at that time were unsuccessful. A full DNA profile was later developed and entered into CODIS and NamUs but those efforts also did not result in identifying this individual.
As part of DA Quinn’s Unidentified Bodies Project initiative, the human remains found at the landfill, along with several others, have been undergoing renewed testing from nationally recognized agencies and labs who specialize in using the most modern forensic technologies for identification of human remains.
District Attorney Quinn’s office, working with the Massachusetts State Police Unresolved Unit and the Fall River Police Department, have recently been able to identify this John Doe as Leon Brown from Boston. Brown, a 41 year old disabled man, who suffered from multiple sclerosis and had difficulty walking, had been missing since August 2005. The identification was made possible using advanced fingerprint techniques and benefited from the upgrad of fingerprint information that have been made over the years to the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Investigators are now probing this case as a suspicious death based on all of the circumstances surrounding Brown’s disappearance, death and the disposal of his body in the Fall River Landfill.
The deceased was not initially reported missing and the leg braces he wore were not on his legs nor were they found anywhere in the landfill. In addition to the previously stated agencies, Boston Police and the Essex County District Attorney’s State Police Detective Unit are now assisting us in this ongoing investigation.
Earlier this week, members of Quinn’s office located Brown’s unmarked grave in Fall River and placed flowers, along with a temporary marker that now finally names the deceased who is buried there.
“My office has been extremely successful in solving cold case homicides and sexual assaults from decades past. This case highlights why I decided to expand our Cold Case Unit to include unidentified human remains and missing persons. Each of these human remains was a living person who had hopes and human dignity. Doing everything we possibly can to identify them is a crucial first step in then determining what happened to them,” Quinn said. “I am very pleased that we were able to identify Leon Brown, and that his previously unmarked grave will no longer just be an unidentified plot number in the cemetery. We are now focussed on investigating the circumstances surrounding his suspicious death. But without the Unidentified Bodies Project, we never would have had a case to fully investigate. If we determine foul play was involved in Mr. Brown’s disappearance, death or disposal, we will not stop until the individual responsible is brought to justice.”
Republished courtesy of Bristol County DA's Office.