A positive identification has been made in a John Doe homicide investigation from 1993, the Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department announced jointly today.
Utilizing technology that was not available at the time and with the support of several partner agencies, that individual is now positively identified as Ronald Louis Dodge, born on Dec. 27, 1952, in Keshena, Wis., on the Menominee Indian Reservation.

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“With the identification now made and Dodge’s remains returned to his family on the Menominee Reservation in northeastern Wisconsin, the Pleasant Prairie Police Department is actively seeking tips for what is now a reopened homicide investigation,” said Chief David Smetana.

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“The Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office remains committed to identifying those individuals who do not have their name,” said Kenosha County Medical Examiner Patrice Hall. “In my almost 20-year career in working in death investigation, Ronald’s case has proven to be the most difficult to solve. I am humbled to have the honor of giving Ronald back his name, reuniting him with his family, and bringing the Dodge family the answers they have been looking for all of these years.”

The body now identified as Dodge was found on Aug. 27, 1993, in an advanced state of decomposition alongside the Soo Line (now Canadian Pacific) rail tracks in Pleasant Prairie, near the Illinois border. After fruitless effort to identify John Doe at that time, he was buried in St. John’s Cemetery in Randall, Wis.

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In December 2014, Hall resumed the investigation after learning that the Pleasant Prairie Police Department had retained the 1993 John Doe skull as evidence. Over the ensuing nine-plus years, the Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department worked diligently with numerous agencies throughout the United States in an effort to identify the individual.
With the assistance of NamUs (the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System), the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, the DNA Doe Project, and Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Janamarie Truesdell, a positive identification was made earlier this year.

Hall said it has been determined Dodge was a victim of homicide. At this time, no suspects, persons of interest, or leads have been identified, Smetana said.

“Our work now continues in the case as new forensic testing has determined that Ronald Dodge suffered a gunshot wound near the time of his death,” Smetana said. “Our detectives are requesting anyone with any information on this case to come forward and help our agency in bringing justice to the Dodge family.”

In the course of the investigation to date, it has been determined Dodge was married and was possibly living on the north side of Chicago at the time of his death. Dodge’s wife, Kathryn Erickson, died in Chicago in November 1993.

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Timeline of investigation:

In reopening the case in December 2014, the Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office began working with multiple agencies, including the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) of the behalf of NamUs, and Commander Jason Moran with the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Department to try different avenues of identifying 1993 John Doe.

In October 2015, specimens from 1993 John Doe were sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) on the behalf of NamUs. The specimens underwent anthropologic analysis, and DNA was extracted and entered into CODIS and the FBI’s National DNA Index System (NDIS).

In June 2016, UNTSHI Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Wendy McQuade was able to determine the decedent was male, possibly between 40 to 60 years of age, and possibly of Native American, Hispanic, or Caucasian ancestry, or a blend of all three races.

In April 2017, Dr. Jane Harris of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab completed a reconstruction of 1993 John Doe’s skull, creating reconstruction photos that were then released to the public in an attempt to identify the individual.

Also in 2017, the Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office began working with the Smithsonian Institution to have isotype analysis completed.

In 2018, the Kenosha County Medical Examiner’s Office began collaboration with the DNA Doe Project to explore the possibility of genetic genealogy technology to identify John Doe.

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Over the following years, the DNA Doe Project developed leads and a family tree. In the process of reaching out to extended family members, Dodge’s brother, Allen Dodge, received the press release and facial reconstruction image.

Allen Dodge contacted Medical Examiner Patrice Hall on June 5, 2023, and informed her that his brother, Ronald Dodge, had been missing since May 8, 1993. With this new information, DNA samples were obtained from Allen and another sibling, and DNA confirmed Ronald Dodge’s identity.

On Sept. 22, 2023, Dodge’s body was exhumed from St. John’s Cemetery and underwent extensive testing and analysis by Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Janamarie Truesdell. Dr. Truesdell was able to confirm a new cause of death. The manner of death remains as homicide.

Homicide investigation information sought:
Anyone with any information that might prove helpful in the Pleasant Prairie Police Department’s renewed homicide investigation is encouraged to contact the department at 262-948-8910 or by email at tips@pleasantprairiewi.gov. Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Kenosha Area Crime Stoppers at 262-656-7333 or 800-807-8477.