The Death of Hinkley John Doe, October 1978

At roughly 4:45pm on Sunday, October 8, 1978, a man from Boron, Kern County, CA was searching in the high desert two miles west of Kramer Junction, San Bernardino County, CA — located at the intersection of Highways 58 and 395 — for a part of his camper that he had lost earlier in the day when he discovered human remains half-buried in sand.

The man first notified Kern County authorities, who then reported the discovery to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department shortly before 5:00pm, as the corpse was found about 2.5 mi east of the Kern County line. The specific location was 0.75 mi south of State Highway 58, and about twenty miles from the incorporated community of Hinkley; because of this, the body, that of a male, became known as Hinkley John Doe 1978. The sheriff's department also designated him "John Doe #14-78."

According to one newspaper source, "Detective Rod Conder from the Barstow [sheriff's] office was assigned, and with homicide investigators from San Bernardino then sent up to look into the case."

While all parts of the body were recovered, it was not recognizable, as it was "in the advanced stages of decomposition." Medical examiners initially concluded that, "the man had been dead anywhere from three weeks to three months," which would place John Doe's date of death as between about early July 1978 to approx. Sun., September 17, 1978. NamUs provides a much less specific estimate, with his year of death at 1978 and postmortem interval (PMI) being "months."

John Doe's cause of death is undetermined. One of the earliest news reports on the unidentified decedent described him as an, "apparent murder victim." Authorities have not officially indicated whether they believe foul play was involved, though it is known that, at least initially, homicide investigators were involved.

John Doe was a white male who was 12 to 17 years old, though may have been as old as 30; furthermore, one contemporary source placed his age at 20 to 30 years. He was 5'5 and 135 lbs with shoulder-/collar-length hair that was blond to light brown in color. His eye color could not be determined due to the condition of the remains. John Doe did not have any visible scars or tattoos. According to NamUs, "His top left tooth was capped and there were other caps and metal fillings in his teeth."

No clothing, shoes, or jewelry were found in the shallow grave with the body. The only item recovered with John Doe is what is considered to possibly be a belt buckle, pictured below. The buckle is metal with "DON" embossed in the center, and was badly corroded at the time of discovery.

Possible belt buckle. Photo from NamUs.

Because of the possible belt buckle, the decedent is sometimes referred to as "Don Doe," as well as the previously mentioned placeholder names Hinkley John Doe 1978 and John Doe #14-78.

John Doe's NamUs case, #UP2510, was created on August 26, 2008 and last updated October 6, 2022. A profile for John Doe wasn't added to the Doe Network until August 13, 2025. There is only one MP rule-out on his NamUs exclusion list: John Doe is not Anthony Allen, missing from Arkansas since Oct. 1, 1978.

There are multiple points of contact for those with information:

Sheriff's Service Specialist September Fonzi-Jones of the SB County Sheriff's Department - Coroner Division at (909) 387-2978. The agency case number is 52061.

The SB County Sheriff's Department - Central Station at (909) 387-3545, agency case number 94797008.

Anonymous informants may also contact WeTip at 1-800-78CRIME (800-782-7463).

Any little detail counts to bring John Doe's identity back to him, as well as solve his possible murder.

According to the Doe Network, the availability of John Doe's identifiers, such as fingerprints and DNA, is unknown. However, according to a few early posts from the WebSleuths thread dedicated to John Doe, his dental records are available for comparison, while his fingerprints are not. Furthermore, his DNA seems to be available; according to the same source, as of 2014 a sample was submitted and tests completed.

Theories and Online Speculation

Users on WebSleuths have come up with several questions and ideas regarding John Doe. The majority of the discussion consists of general spitting of possible MP matches to John Doe, especially ones with some form of "Don" in their name.

A significant portion of the WebSleuths thread has also been dedicated to theorizing about the belt buckle found with John Doe and his possible connection to it. In March 2014 user "tatertot" managed to find the exact kind of belt buckle: the buckle found with John Doe was made by Oden Inc. in the 1970s, specifically the company's "name series," which allowed customers to customize the name on the front.

As evidence of how well the Oden Inc. belt buckles fit the one found with John Doe, above is a screenshot showing that the first results for a search for "Oden Inc. belt buckles" are a multitude of images matching that of the belt buckle found buried with John Doe.

Some possible first/middle or last names that fit with "DON" are: Donald (Don, Donnie), Donovan, McDonald, MacDonald, Donaghue, McDonough, Donlon, or even Ronald. WebSleuths users have noted that, along with possibly being a nickname based off of the individual's first, middle, or last name, it is also possible that "DON" could have been chosen due to matching with one's initials.

Users on WebSleuths have also speculated that the belt buckle did not belong to John Doe, but instead originally belonged to perhaps a friend or brother with any of the name variations above. I have also posited in the WS thread the possibility that "Don" could have been a nickname for the owner of the belt (John Doe or otherwise) that was not based off of a birth name, but instead the Spanish honorific/title "Don"; this further aligns both with the desert setting where John Doe was found, as well as the western style of the belt buckle itself. If this is the case, then there could be a multitude of reasons why "Don" was chosen as a nickname; perhaps whoever gave the moniker tended to call people "Don" in the sense that others use "boss"; or, perhaps, as I put it on WebSleuths, "maybe, him [John Doe] being a teenage boy, he started showing interest in girls, and an adult in his life jokingly called him a real Don Juan. His silly teenage friends caught on and the joke escalated to them getting him that belt buckle. Who knows."

User "tatertot" has also posed the following questions in the WebSleuths thread:

"It would be interesting to know if the belt buckle was found at Don Doe's waist, suggesting he had been wearing it when he died. It's described as a 'possible' belt buckle, which suggests no trace of a (presumably) leather belt was found or they would have known it was a buckle for certain. If he was wearing jeans, wouldn't at least the buttons and zipper have been found in the soil?"

Unrelated to the belt buckle itself, the same WebSleuths user has posited that John Doe was possibly a victim of serial killer William Floyd Zamastil, who has been convicted for the murders of two teenage siblings about 13 miles south of Barstow, San Bernardino County, CA in February 1978, as well as the rape and murder of a Wisconsin woman that same year. Zamastil is also a possible suspect in the September 1977 murder of Scott Allison, whose body was found in Hinkley, about twenty miles from where John Doe was found a little over a year later.

While this certainly seems plausible, it should be noted that I have not found any speculation regarding Zamastil and John Doe beyond this mention on WebSleuths. Furthermore, while the circumstances certainly make it seem like a homicide, the cause and manner of John Doe's death are undetermined.

Sources

Desert Dispatch 10/9/78

San Bernardino County Sun 10/9/78, 10/11/78

The Victorville Daily Press 10/12/78 [Same text as the SBC Sun 10/11/78]

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