John Doe likeness released

AUGUSTA – State officials Wednesday released a sketch and computer-enhanced photograph of a dead man who was recovered from the ocean off eastern Maine five years ago.

Chief Medical Examiner Margaret Greenwald and Attorney General Steven Rowe called on the public to help them identify the man who was found 27 miles off Jonesport on July 24, 2000.

A forensic artist and computer enhancement specialist from South Carolina generated a sketch and photo of what the man looked like while alive. Greenwald and Rowe released the images in hopes that someone will recognize him.

The body, known as John Doe No. 21, was never identified, and the cause and manner of death could not be determined because of its decomposed state. The man is believed to be 60 to 65 years old, 6-feet-2 and 200 to 250 pounds.

“We all have been frustrated that we can’t find out who this man is. Once in a while we get a lead, but nothing ever pans out,” Greenwald said.

In September, Greenwald sent her office administrator, Jim Ferland, to present the case of the missing man to a conference on missing persons and unidentified human remains sponsored by the National Institute of Justice.

There, Ferland learned about an organization called the Doe Network, a volunteer organization that works to help law enforcement solve cases involving unexplained disappearances and nameless victims.

The Doe Network includes a group of volunteer forensic artists who create reconstructions and age progressions of the missing and unidentified.

The sketch and photo of John Doe No. 21 were created by Lt. Wesley Neville of the Florence County Sheriff’s Department in South Carolina.

On the Net: The Doe Network, www.doenetwork.org.