Harlem Marine John Doe

July 2, 1018 - NYC ME's office says his name was Leroy Bernard Matthews. No other information was given.
​RIP Leroy.
This is the original Veteran Doe case. His case started this whole project and he was identified Dec. 2017 or Jan. 2018. His name and the circumstances of his identification have not been released (Feb 2018).

New York, NY

CIRCUMSTANCES: Unknown black male found electrocuted on the third rail on the southbound D train tracks at the 145th St and St. Nicholas Avenue Station June 23, 1997.
​Background from NamUs: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/6814​​
  • Elaborate "USMC" tattoo in blue on left upper arm     
  • Clothing: Navy t-shirt size XL, gray cutoff sweatpants, black Levi jeans size 34/30, tan or brown cloth belt, brown plaid jacket size XL
  • Estimated age 20 - 30
  • Weight (pounds)  130, Measured
  • Height (inches) 67, Measured  (5’7”)
  • No noted: scars, deformities, or piercings
  • Fingerprint information is available and entered
  • Dental information / charting is available and entered
  • DNA sample is currently not available

1st Force Recon Tattoo EGA

1st Force Recon tattoo left upper arm.
  • ​This EGA tattoo was done in Twentynine Palms, California between 1994 and 1996. 
  • It possibly indicated both a connection to Force Reconnaissance and Explosive Ordinance Disposal - EOD Company.
  • ​There is an anomaly in the tattoo above the DI in "Dishonor". I added some pics at the bottom of this page. Feel free to send me any thoughts on that.
Harlem map: Pointer indicates the location were our John Doe was found.
Here are some thoughts I have about this case.
  • Based on his age range his likely dates of service would have been somewhere in the 1985- 1997 years.
  • He was likely very recently separated from the US Marine Corps since he is not on any AWOL lists.
  • 7Th ESB (Engineer Support Battalion), which includes EOD Company, was deployed to Iraq and Somalia. 
  • 1st Force Recon and EOD were both in Camp Pendleton.
  • I have some more information/thoughts on this page: http://www.veterandoe.com/john-doe-new-york-marines.html
A lot of you have also asked about missing persons reports. I’ve been watching for him on several websites for a couple years. I keep track of a couple possible persons but none have jumped out as an incredible possibility yet.
 
On that note, a family member of another long missing Marine has shared her difficulties with trying to report an adult missing, and, obtaining records for an adult. I can see that being the case here as well.

​Maybe his family is dead, maybe they know he is deceased and have simply not claimed him…..or, like the woman who I was in contact with, maybe they have been looking for answers for decades and keep running into brick walls.
 
I’ve seen a few solved cases where there was not a missing report from the time of the disappearance. They don’t get filed for all sorts of reasons. Some of the later reports get submitted by friends and that is what solves the mystery of the unidentified person. 

So, keep sharing him! His name is out there somewhere. 
Burial information: ​https://www.hartisland.net/burial_records/18861-male-unknown?date_of_death=1997-06-23&referer=search
These are cropped versions of the original tattoo pic from his Namus file ( the link is posted at the top of the page). The anomaly here is not on the original tattoo flash, BUT, the I in DiSHONOR is the only lower case letter in the whole tattoo.

​I changed the saturation and contrast to try to bring it out. If you have an opinion on what it says, feel free to send email it to me or send a message via our Facebook page ​https://www.facebook.com/VeteranDoe
CBS NY news article on this case:
​http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/11/11/unidentified-marine/