The Death of San Mateo County John Doe, August 1980

On Sunday, August 3, 1980, a hiker named John Bryant Collins found human remains in unincorporated San Mateo County, CA. Collins found a skull off of Little Butano Creek Trail, which is a 1.5-mile (one way) trail in Butano State Park. Collins turned the skull over to State Park Ranger Thomas Lindsey, who notified the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. Investigators from the sheriff's and coroner's offices responded to the scene and recovered the remains, and conducted multiple searches over the following weeks for further bones or evidence. 

Twenty to twenty-five additional bones were found by LE after Collins's initial discovery, including teeth, several vertebrae, and "what appear to be arm bones." The remains were not recognizable as a result of consisting of partial skeletal parts only. The unidentified person's torso, as well as one or more limbs and one or both hands, were not recovered. Also listed among the inventory of remains on NamUs is "head not recovered"; however, this is an error, as the skull was most definitely recovered. Due to NamUs's description of the shoes being found on the body, it seems that among the remains recovered were the decedent's feet.

The remains were determined to be that of a male of uncertain/unknown race or ethnicity. John Doe is estimated to have been 28 to 39 years old when he died; his estimated age group on NamUs is "Adult - Pre 40." Due to the condition of the remains, the decedent's eye color, race/ethnicity, hair color, height, and weight could not be determined. Of the five teeth remaining in the skull, two of them had fillings.  

John Doe's bones were found scattered in a heavily wooded area, believed to have been moved by animals. While no clothing was found in the immediate vicinity, within fifty yards of the location where Collins recovered the skull was a pair of shoes, described as "possible hiking/work boot style [...] with 'Kraton' sole." The boots were partly disintegrated due to exposure to the elements, and appeared to have been chewed on by small animals. While NamUs notes that the size and make of the boots are unknown, a contemporary newspaper article indicates that the boots were size 13. Photos of the boots have not been uploaded to NamUs.  

John Doe's estimated year of death is 1975 to 1977 — i.e., three to five years before being found — with the provided estimated PMI being "years." According to a contemporary newspaper article, "most of the bones were found under about three inches of debris. [...] the debris accumulates at a rate of 0.5 to one inch a year."  

John Doe's manner and cause of death, if known, have not been released publicly. However, a newspaper from the time speculated that John Doe may have been a victim of homicide:

"Old-timers in the district said that the man could have been murdered and 'dumped' in the Butano area east of Pescadero. In the past three years, there has been a sudden increase in the number of corpses found in the San Mateo county coastal and mountainous areas. Some of the bodies have been those of murder victims while others are suicide cases, reports said." 

There are very few details available in John Doe's case. He is featured neither among other unidentified decedents on the San Mateo County Coroner's site nor on the user-submitted Doe Network. Furthermore, there previously was not a Websleuths thread dedicated to John Doe, so I created one on Jan. 10, 2026, linked below. 

John Doe's NamUs case, #UP9598, was created on December 11, 2011; according to the same site, the profile was reviewed for quality assurance by a medical examiner or coroner two days later. The NamUs case was last updated on December 28, 2022.

Anyone with information in John Doe's case is urged to contact Supervising Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Ortiz of the San Mateo County Coroner's Office at (650) 312-5562 or Coroner_General@smcgov.org. The agency case number is 80-0646. Any little piece of information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is appreciated, and may be the key to uncovering John Doe's identity.

Sources

NamUs

Websleuths

Unidentified Persons wiki 

Two Half Moon Bay Review articles, Aug. 1980 ***

Butano State Park and Little Butano Creek Trail, California State Parks 

Butano State Park, Redwood Hikes site 

Butano State Park, Bay Area Hiker blog 

*** Also available in this blog's Newspaper Index.