DISCOVERY:
On June 20, 1983, a Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) employee was checking the railroad cars of a train in Bloomington, San Bernardino County, California, when he discovered the body of a man at the bottom of a gondola car.
The train had been carrying sugar beets. According to deputies, the vegetables were unloaded in Los Angeles, with the train arriving in Bloomington, some 50 miles away, around 10:30 AM.
AUTOPSY:
The decedent had suffered gunshot wounds, which were determined to be the cause of death. He’d been dead less than 24 hours, with investigators saying they believe he was killed sometime before the train rolled into the yard in Bloomington.
DESCRIPTION:
John Doe is described as a Hispanic male between the ages of 15 and 20. He stood at 5’11”, weighed 146 pounds, and had straight, dark brown hair and brown eyes. It was noted he had scars on his right arm, right shoulder and one of his hands. One tooth was impacted mesially.
When found, the decedent was wearing a white shirt with an apple and a silhouette of New York City; blue jeans; a black belt that had the Harley-Davidson logo with skulls and wings on it; and black desert, loafer-type boots.
A pay stub found on the body indicated John Doe’s name may have been “Ernesto Carrillo Aguilar”, birth date June 24, 1963. He could have possibly been a migrant worker from Sonora, Mexico, who’d worked in a farming community in Northern California, but this identity was never confirmed.
As of April 2025, the decedent is undergoing genetic genealogy.
RULE OUTS:
- Michael Ray Askren, who went missing from Rosemead, California, on August 6, 1981.
- Jerome Maeth, who went missing from San Francisco, California, on January 3, 1983.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
John Doe’s dentals, fingerprints and DNA are available for comparison.
Anyone with information regarding the decedent’s identity or the case is asked to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner at either (909) 387-2978 or (909) 388-0159.
Image Credit: NCMEC
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