The Death of Santa Monica John Doe, April 1978

On Wednesday, April 19, 1978, the decomposed body of an unidentified man was found floating in the Pacific Ocean "off the northern side and western end of the Santa Monica Pier" in Santa Monica, LA County, CA. The man has never been identified, and is currently known only as Santa Monica John Doe 1978.

John Doe was a white adult man believed to be 25 to 40 years old at the time of his death; alternatively, the LA County Medical Examiner's Office (LACME) lists his approximate age as 30 years old. John Doe's height measured in at 5'7" (1.70m), and his weight was estimated to be 160 lbs. His eye color is unknown due to the condition of his remains. When his body was discovered he was wearing only black cut-off corduroy pants and a belt.

John Doe had wavy brown hair, as well as a mustache and beard. On NamUs, his head hair is specifically described as "Wavy medium brown hair." The user-based Unidentified wiki interprets this description as meaning that John Doe's hair was medium in length, while the Doe Network instead interprets the word "medium" as modifying the word "brown." It is unclear which of these two interpretations was intended.

John Doe is believed to have died in 1978, the same year his body was found. According to the Doe Network, his cause of death is unknown. According to the Doe Network, the availability of his dentals, fingerprints, or DNA for comparison are all unknown. There are zero exclusions listed on his NamUs page. Furthermore, I could not find any contemporary newspaper articles about the discovery of his remains. Overall, there is very little information available in John Doe's case.

John Doe's NamUs page, #UP9469, was created on November 9, 2011 and last modified on August 18, 2026. On that site, the date November 10, 2011 is listed under "ME/C QA Reviewed." The Doe Network case number is 3307UMCA. It is possible that older versions of John Doe's NamUs page are available through the Wayback Machine at this link, however as of the time of publication the Internet Archive is temporarily offline, so this will have to be checked at a later time.

Anyone who believes they may have information concerning John Doe, his identity, or his death is urged to contact Investigator Betsy Magdaleno of LACME at (323) 343-0512 or IDUnit@me.lacounty.gov. The agency case number is 1978-04817. Any little piece of information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, may be the key to recovering John Doe's identity.

Sources & Mentions 

NamUs 

LACME

WebSleuths 

Doe Network 

Unidentified wiki