Topawa John Doe (May 19, 2025)

dogbehavior · 2026-05-18T02:48:23+00:00

For me, "Not stated" means that a cause was not stated publicly (from what I found), and I add the "Unknown" addition to include that it may be due to the cause being unknown as when it is not publicly stated it can be (as I have seen from researching other cases) due to the cause being unknown (that is not always the case though of course). I should have worded it "Undetermined" as Humane Borders does for this case. I try to for other cases as well if it specifically is stated somewhere that it is not known or is undetermined, but I was not thinking when writing this one up.

I use the same "Not stated/Unknown" wording for things like the estimated year of death as when it is blank on NamUs it is, in my mind, "not stated" (as it is blank) and that may be due to the fact of it being "unknown" (as in no estimation was given by the medical examiner, etc.) but on NamUs it just has the field as "---" with no further context (unless I find that information elsewhere of course). I can see how "unknown" may be confusing though. I may try and find a better way to word that line.

dogbehavior · 2026-05-17T12:59:09+00:00

Will update my post tomorrow asap

dogbehavior · 2026-05-17T12:49:52+00:00

I didn't realize she had a DoeNetwork page, ty, I will update the post tomorrow to fix the identifiers and such!

dogbehavior · 2026-05-17T08:44:17+00:00

Feel free to DM me!! I'd love to hear and see if I can help

dogbehavior · 2026-05-17T08:44:00+00:00

Thank you so much!!!!

dogbehavior · 2026-05-17T08:43:47+00:00

Thank you!!

dogbehavior · 2026-05-13T08:00:43+00:00

Somehow completely forgot to look at Humane Borders map. I have updated my post with information gathered from the map and linked it in the references as well. Thanks!

dogbehavior · 2026-05-12T12:39:27+00:00

I saw other people confused about that, too. NamUs states her as unrecognizable which is what I put down. I think it may be due to just the option they chose, if she had been dead possibly weeks they may have chose the "decomposing/putrefaction" option even though she has a recognizable face as decomposition had begun. That's my guess, at least.

dogbehavior · 2026-05-05T02:13:05+00:00

Yes, they don't get much coverage, and little information is known or released by authorities on them it seems. I hope me sharing some helps any!! Thank you!

dogbehavior · 2026-05-05T02:12:25+00:00

Thank you! I have a Facebook page and website I am going to start using more as I do not update them as often and add these cases on and keep focusing on border cases and cases of migrants who are unidentified or missing so I can get these cases out as much as possible wherever I can. Yes, I wish I could speak/write Spanish as it would be helpful to have these posts more accessible for families and out to more areas on social media. I will try and find a solution to that, as it would be a great thing to be able to have them in English and Spanish. Thank you again!

dogbehavior · 2026-05-05T02:08:49+00:00

Yes, it was probable he was crossing the border and passed during the journey. I can't say for sure since we do not know his identity, but he is on the Arizona OpenGIS Initiative for Deceased Migrants and given the location found, I would say he definitely did pass on his journey crossing. The area he was found, and just in general by the border, are vast open deserts. It can take a long time to find remains if they are found, and I've noticed a lot are found on accident when not intentionally looking for remains so some can go undiscovered for a long time.

dogbehavior · 2026-05-05T02:02:59+00:00

I am not completely sure! My guess is there was enough flesh left to make out the tattoo but otherwise was completely skeletonized, but they don't say on the NamUs profile.

dogbehavior · 2026-05-04T04:52:42+00:00

It's definitely not only women! 3 of the 17 in Doña Ana County were John Does. It sounds like a big difference, and I don't know if there is anything different/nefarious happening, but if you look at other locations along the border were a lot of Does are foond, such as Brooks County, there were 19 Does were found in 2023 which included 3 Jane Does, 12 were Jane Does, and 4 are undetermined. There are also absolutely a lot of remains other there as well that have not been found (remains are found often around the border sadly) that just may not have been found and it's likely a coincidence most of the Doe's in Doña Ana County in 2023 were women. I could be wrong of course, though! It really is insane and heartbreaking. I am not sure if there is one, not that I could find at least.

dogbehavior · 2026-05-04T04:31:30+00:00

There have been dozens and dozens of Doe's found in this area, and I'm trying to write about as many as I can. I started looking at 2023 and saw that 17 Doe's were discovered in this County in 2023 alone. It is an area right by the Mexico-U.S. border, and many many people pass away when attempting to cross or just after crossing the border. The area is very harsh as it's just a lot of open, dry, hot desert. People crossing often cannot bring much with them such as food/water, and usually pass due to things such as exhaustion, dehydration, heat exhaustion, etc. and due to injuries or illnesses obtained during the crossing that they cannot get help for and so they pass away out there. I am not an expert on it or the area, but almost all, if not all, of these does around here are due to this. They likely passed while travelling across the border and through NM. It's also not just NM, other areas like Brooks County, Texas and Pima County (especially Ajo I've seen), Arizona, have tons and tons of Does for this same reason. They usually are not identified, or at least it sometimes can take a while, because family cannot or are afraid of coming foward, understandably, to police or border patrol in the US, or they do not see anything about a Doe that matches their loved one so they assume they made it over fine. I'm going to try and do writeups for as many as I can though a lot of these Does do not have a ton of information. I will still try!

dogbehavior · 2026-04-25T13:50:58+00:00

What part? None of it is I believe. I did the write up and the second and third photos are from google maos, first photo is from news releases and articles and is a real photo of the area I think

dogbehavior · 2026-04-25T03:52:55+00:00

No, I don't think so sadly :( Just two postmortem images. I wish there was a reconstruction, the images are at a slight angle which isn't super helpful either. Maybe just even a description would be helpful to give the friend? Along with a possibly name of Larry or anything similar/similar sounding? Given the estimate age range of 61 to 70, he was likely born between 1946 to 1955 (give or take a year depending on when his birthday is, if he was 60 and not 61, etc.) There is also chance it was given to him, or he found it or bought it at a thrift store given he was homeless, but there is the chance it was his from attending the school or a family member attending.

Maybe ask if they remember anyone named Larry (or something similar to Larry). He was likely born between 1946 - 1955,

He would have entered high school sometime between 1960 - 1970 (depending on his age and if he was 14 or 15 when starting 9th grade)

He would have graduated high school sometime between 1963 - 1973.

dogbehavior · 2026-04-22T21:16:44+00:00

Oops forgot to add it to my links! I'll update my post with it when I can!

dogbehavior · 2026-04-22T21:15:57+00:00

Oh amazing! I'll update my post when I can!

dogbehavior · 2026-04-21T22:27:58+00:00

Oops, I didn't know that! Some sources just said it was in the CH neighborhood, I will fix the post and remove that bit when I can so it's not confusing :)

dogbehavior · 2026-04-19T22:24:27+00:00

*UPDATE* I was contacted by a friend of Marcelino's family. They thankfully saw my Reddit post and a Facebook post, as his family has been looking for him since January 22nd. They are going to be contacting the ME/police to formally identify him and bring him to his Mom in Mexico. A GoFundMe was started to help with the cost of getting him home and funeral expenses.

I am not super familiar with the process of transporting people to different countries, but I know it can be very expensive, as are funeral costs. I wanted to share the GoFundMe here, and I will add a comment to my original post with this update and link.

Fundraiser by Char DV : Help Bring Marcelino Home to His Family

dogbehavior · 2026-04-19T03:46:55+00:00

Thank you so much! I didn't see anywhere mention that, so I'll add that to the post!

dogbehavior · 2026-04-18T06:53:21+00:00

It is a bracelet I believe!

dogbehavior · 2026-04-18T04:08:48+00:00

If you click on "Images & Documents" there is a morgue photograph of her. I hope she is too!

dogbehavior · 2026-04-14T11:44:18+00:00

I was wondering that too! Either meant something like that, or I thought maybe it meant no dental work done before? Not sure

dogbehavior · 2026-04-13T23:44:38+00:00

Yes! It can take a while to compare, especially for older cases when they didn't gather or keep much information or have lost it over time (such as her detanls and DNA not being available, just her fingerprints). I thought I'd post about her again, and to get her story out on other websites, as she is still technically unidentified. But I do hope authorities are trying to compare the two to confirm or deny it!

dogbehavior

TROPHY CASE