A “John Doe” found “violently murdered” in a shallow grave in the Florida woods in 1980 has finally been identified as a Navy veteran after decades of mystery.
The severely decomposed dead body was found in the woods of Pomona Park in December 1980 with a gunshot wound, blunt force trauma to the chest and a fracture to the base of his skull.
Detectives were unable to identify the body or identify a suspect and the file was closed for the next four decades, with the victim known only as “John Doe #36.”
Now, new DNA techniques have made it possible for Putnam County sheriff’s investigators to identify the victim as the father of two, William Irving Monroe III, a former Navy and Vietnam veteran.
Sheriff Gator DeLoach said the discovery gave Monroe’s family “the peace of mind to know that we have identified their brother, who will be properly remembered.”
The vet’s surviving son Michael, who was eight when his father disappeared without a trace, said it was “overwhelming… to know I wasn’t abandoned.”
After 40 years of mystery, John Doe #36 was identified as William Irving Monroe III
A deputy found the body half-submerged in a shallow grave during a routine patrol in December 1980.
Detectives determined that the victim had died of a gunshot wound to the neck approximately two or three weeks before the body was found.
He had no identification on him and through interviews, detectives determined he was a migrant worker working on a nearby farm. He was buried with a plain metal cross marking his grave and the matter went cold.
In February 2023, Captain Chris Stallings reviewed the evidence and contacted DNA testing center Orthram about the case.
They used the latest technology to build a DNA profile and searched a genetic database to build a potential family tree.
This led detectives to his brother and identified the body as belonging to Monroe.
Through interviews with his relatives, they learned that Monroe was living in Orlando at the time and that he may have been in Pomona Park because his ex-wife and two sons lived in the area.
One of his sons, Michael, was just eight when his father disappeared, the other, Chris, was killed in a car accident in 1994. Michael told WJXX that his father was his “hero.”
He said, “I went everywhere with him, so when he was gone it took a lot out of me,” he said. ‘I’ve wondered about that all my life.
“Just to know that he’s been found and that I wasn’t abandoned as a child… it’s overwhelming, I don’t know how else to say it. It’s shocking.’
Putnam County Sheriff Gator DeLoach announced the identification Friday
DeLoach said that for years after his disappearance, Monroe’s family believed he might have been murdered in the Virgin Islands.
They confirmed that he stopped contacting them in 1980, and that they did not know where he was. He was last seen in 1980 at a supermarket, and a labor camp driver said he picked up someone matching his description around the same time.
His family said Monroe suffered from PTSD after fighting in Vietnam.
There are currently no suspects in the case.