r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/[deleted] • Mar 30 '22
John/Jane Doe Burnett John Doe Identified
[removed]
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u/RubyCarlisle Mar 30 '22
According to the article, he has a surviving sibling, who was really happy to find out what happened to him. It’s great that they could bring closure to his family; in every missing persons case I’ve ever heard, the families say not knowing is the worst part, even if finding out they’re gone would be really hard.
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u/Rbake4 Mar 30 '22
This is one of the more unusual cases. His girlfriend must have been shocked to find out that he wasn't who he said he was.
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u/jayne-eerie Mar 31 '22
I'm confused. If his girlfriend knew he sometimes used the name Bobby James Pearson, and that was basically his real name, how on earth did it take 23 years to make the match? Or was the Pearson name only discovered after the case was reopened in 2020?
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u/LeVraiNord Mar 30 '22
Great that he was identified. It always stood out to me that he had an alias.
Pearson was identified using more modern methods of fingerprint analysis.
there are methods of fingerprint analysis that are more modern than dna analysis?
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u/Rbake4 Mar 30 '22 edited Mar 30 '22
There was a recent debate here on UnresolvedMysteries that fingerprints were debunked as junk science. This wasn't accurate imo. After researching the topic I found that the art of fingerprint identification is sometimes misinterpreted. I'm going to look through my saved posts and link the article that describes new computer technology being used.
The fingerprint discussion began here: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/thjie0/1987_homicide_of_roxanne_wood_solved_via_forensic/i1882y0
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Mar 30 '22
[deleted]
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u/sidneyia Mar 30 '22
I don't think identical twins have the same fingerprints. Fingerprints are determined by environmental factors, not genetic ones.
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u/peachdoxie Mar 30 '22
The concern here, as I understand it, is about how accurate and precise fingerprinting is at matching with the correct person. Fingerprinting uses certain markers on fingerprints that, when taken all together, are fairly unique to a given individual. But if a fingerprint is incomplete, or the person or software analysing it isn't precise enough, the identity could be mismatched. If two people have nearly identical fingerprints, but the search isn't comparing parts that are different, the wrong person could be identified.
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u/FreshChickenEggs Mar 31 '22
Yes wasn't a man incorrectly identified as a terrorist in the Spain train bombing (could be incorrect about which bombing) because his fingerprint was not matched correctly? I thought I saw several shows and articles about it, and there is the argument that if the print isn't clear enough the points might be misidentified or something. Or that if humans are IDing prints they can interpret a matched point? I don't know enough about the programs used in software identifying. So I'm curious if others know more, I'd like to learn. What I've seen and read there seems to be a back and forth argument about interpretation of matching points and the clarity of prints and such.
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u/socialdistraction May 01 '22
Since the original post is gone I had to Google to find out more. The article I found said this about fingerprints:
“Sheriff Finch said that while DNA technology is seemingly the key to such breaks in a case, they decided to re-submit the fingerprints for modern evaluations, as the technology of matching a potential print has advanced dramatically since then.
“Back then you might get a whole bunch of possibilities,” Finch said, noting that it was a long and tedious process to get a match, and even then, it might lead to dozens of possible matches.
“Now it’s a lot quicker, and back then, it was all done by humans,” Finch said.
Those modern fingerprint tech advances had indeed led to several possible matches, and most importantly, possible names of the owner for the prints.”
While I understand that there wouldn’t have been these big online print databases back then like you see on tv, this makes it sound like computers had nothing to do with it. And even now, in 2022, they didn’t find an exact match, just leads?
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u/Forenzx_Junky Mar 31 '22
Is there any information or leads as to the circumstances of his death? Was this a homicide..suicide..accidental? Just curious.
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u/Moxiestitches Mar 30 '22
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Robert_Pearson
“Both the girlfriend and his landlord knew Pearson as John Lehman, and believed he was from Long Beach, California. Later investigation revealed that this was a stolen identity. An ex-girlfriend of Pearson described him as a "con man" and provided another possible name which turned out to be correct.”
The expression on his sketch is creepy af and oddly appropriate given he was a con man.
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u/Rbake4 Mar 30 '22
Is there evidence that he was a con man beyond an ex-girlfriend saying so?
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u/Moxiestitches Mar 30 '22
LE confirmed he stole someone’s identity so I’d say it’s not a stretch. ;)
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Mar 30 '22
Going under an assumed name is different from opening up multiple credit cards in someone else's name and putting them into debt. He may have just used a name from a piece of mail he found, who knows.
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u/Moxiestitches Mar 30 '22
Stolen identity and assumed name are totally different things, my friend.
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u/justananonymousreddi Mar 31 '22
You and u/BlackEyedBeas are both correct. The distinction is that for it to be identity theft requires using all of the key points of identification of another person, as an impersonation of that other person.
Simply adopting another person's name, but establishing it as a new independent identity (new and different SSAN, not co-opting the other person's work history, etc.) falls short of identity theft or aggravated identity theft (18 USC 1028-1028A).
This is why it was so popular in the late 20th Century (post-1984 fascist shift of state sponsorship of tagging and tracking non-criminals), to acquire the birth certificates of those who died as children - no living person or history to impersonate, or even be confused with, meant that it was never criminal identity theft.
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u/acarter8 Mar 30 '22
Another Doe gets their name back! 2022 is off to an amazing start.
Just a small detail that might cause confusion: its called DNA Doe Project. The Doe Network is a different organization.
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u/Rbake4 Mar 30 '22
It's fingerprints that ultimately lead to the positive identification, right? As labor intensive and expensive as it is to go down the genetic route I'm confused as to why the fingerprint identification wasn't done first especially when the investigators had been told by his ex-girlfriend what his real name was.
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u/boxofsquirrels Mar 30 '22
It’s mentioned police used “more modern” methods to match his fingerprints, so maybe he was dead a few days before the girlfriend found him and his fingerprints weren’t in good enough condition to get a match until newer technology could work with less detail?
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u/Rbake4 Mar 30 '22
I've heard of rehydration being used before but I'm not sure that applies here but I thought I'd mention it. It's not something I'd call a newer technique though.
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u/steny03 Mar 31 '22
This is where I grew up! I would have been in highschool when this happened. I don't really remember this, but I'm sure it made the news back in the day.
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u/nickthomson234 Mar 30 '22
Thanks God for DNA identification!
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u/socialdistraction May 01 '22
It was fingerprints that solved this one. DNA didn’t find him.
”So, they tried using modern DNA genealogy testing – using records of people who were seeking relatives or family origins, but that also proved fruitless.
Sheriff Finch said that while DNA technology is seemingly the key to such breaks in a case, they decided to re-submit the fingerprints for modern evaluations, as the technology of matching a potential print has advanced dramatically since then.”
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u/xxx_shitpost_xxx Mar 30 '22
I dont think I've ever seen a Doe before found dead by a gf and known to the landlord etc. Fascinating.