Flagler County cold case investigators share facial reconstruction of victim in 1980 homicide

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit released a new facial reconstruction Tuesday of the victim in a 1980 homicide.

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According to the sheriff’s office, the victim’s skeleton was found on May 28, 1980 near a culvert on State Road 11, approximately two miles south of the Bunnell city limits.

See a map of the area below:

The Medical Examiner and forensic anthropologists at the time believed the remains were those of a black man between 20 and 27 years old. He would have stood between 5 feet 6 and 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed between 145 and 150 pounds.

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Investigators determined the man was the victim of a homicide, but he has never been identified.

According to the sheriff’s office, the victim doesn’t match any known missing person cases from the same time frame.

The FCSO Cold Case Unit submitted the victim’s bones to a biotechnology company in December of 2022 with the hope of identifying him.

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Just last month, the company provided information suggesting the victim was mostly of African descent with family from the areas surrounding Flagler County.

Next, the Flagler County Cold Case Unit turned to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Imaging Unit to complete a reconstruction of the victim’s face.

Using the data from the DNA analysis and an examination of the victim’s skull, they were able to reconstruct an interpretation of how the victim might have looked in 1980.

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“I want to thank the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “Now we need the public’s help to tell us who he is. Someone knows him. Let’s give him a name so his family will know what happened.”

Anyone who thinks they might recognize the victim, or knows what happened to him, is asked to contact FCSO’s Cold Case unit by e-mail at Sscalia@FlaglerSheriff.com or TIPS@FlaglerSheriff.com.

Tips may also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida by calling 1-888-277-8477 or online here.

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