A Belt Buckle, a Ring, and a Few Tattoos (updated and enhanced)…
Whenever my mentor and close friend, Clay Bryant, reaches out for my assistance, I respond both in spirit and in action. He is undoubtedly one of the top cold case investigators that I’ve ever known. Even after retiring, he was brought back into the field by the Sheriff of Troup County, Georgia.
Clay calls me and says he’s got a tough one.
On March 8, 1990, a murder victim, unidentified to this day, was discovered on the shores of West Point Lake, near LaGrange, Georgia. That’s where your help comes in.
West Point Lake is a man-made reservoir located mostly in west-central Georgia on the Chattahoochee River, maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Chattahoochee River flows in from the north. We have no way of knowing where upriver the victim was disposed of; we only know where he wound up.
The body was severely decomposed, and the Medical Examiner estimated that the death occurred at least 60 days prior. The fatal cause was determined to be a gunshot wound.
The man suffered two execution-style gunshot wounds to the head. He was estimated to be between 30 and 60 years old, around 6 feet in height, and weighed about 180 pounds. His clothing consisted of a T-shirt, flannel shirt, blue jeans, and insulated coveralls.
He also wore a Balfour commemorative ring from the Missouri Pacific Railroad, dating between 1980 and 1982. The ring featured a blue stone from the Kansas Division and had the initials CAM engraved on it.
In the pocket of his coveralls was a Zippo lighter, also marked with the initials CAM. He wore a custom-made belt buckle typical of the pipefitting profession, crafted from stainless steel, featuring an Eisenhower Silver Dollar at its core.
The victim had some distinctive tattoos: an original Mickey Mouse (Steamboat Willie) on his right chest, an amateur “MOM” on his upper arm, and a “Keep on Trucking Man” tattoo from the 1970s on his back, depicting a man who appears to be snorting cocaine with smoke coming from his ears. There is also a mirror and razor blade tattoo on his back.
The items present indicated he probably worked for the Kansas Division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in the early 1980s and was possibly a skilled ironworker or pipe fitter.
West Point Lake is close to Interstate 85, which runs for 35 miles along the Chattahoochee River on the Alabama-Georgia state line. The lake has 525 miles of shoreline.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has his skull. I called our expert, Kelly Lawson, who is the forensic artist for the GBI. She can take the victim’s skull and perform a facial reconstruction to give us a face.
Kelly said she would look for the skull in evidence and speak with Clay. This process can be rewarding and could potentially provide us with a massive lead.
I contacted the Kansas City Police and asked Missing Persons Detective Hasklee if they had a missing man from 1990 who matched the above description. He stated he couldn’t find anything because there’s a gap in their system from 1987 to 1991, or those cases aren’t listed.
In cold cases, we can often hit a wall, and this is definitely a wall. Of all the years to have a “gap,” it’s the year we need.
I contacted the local newspaper in Kansas City and spoke with a local reporter. He said he would look into any missing person stories during that time in their archives. As of this publication, I have not heard back from him.
So, I am turning to you—the public.
Investigator Clay Bryant and I believe in the power of the public in cold cases. I am hopeful that someone can tell us more about the belt buckle or the unusual ring. I hope maybe there’s a family member who will see this and notify law enforcement or us.
I will also host Clay on my podcast today, “Zone 7,” in an effort to generate interest and coverage. The more people who can see these items, the greater the chance there is of finding the victim’s name and possibly a motive, which could lead us to finding his killer.
Please take a moment to look at the items and tattoos. Do you recognize them? Do you have information about the belt buckle or the ring? The tattoos? Did you know him?
A-WIC stands for Anyone With Information Contact! Please contact Investigator Clay Bryant at (706) 883-1616 or CrimeOnline at (909) 49-CRIME.
