"River Guy" Several witnesses remember seeing, on October 16, 1994, around 5:30 PM, a young man in his early twenties near the same area where the body was found. The man, who was wearing similar clothing as found with John Clinton Doe, was seen running and stumbling in Turtle Creek, visibly intoxicated and distraught. Dubbed "River Guy" by local investigators, he was reported by witnesses to have fallen in the water two or three times, trying to climb up the embankment and yelling at bystanders, telling them to get away from him. He also mentioned being wronged by a woman named Mary and being a fugitive. He was then seen sitting on the creek bank after his ramblings. Contrary to the FBI approximation of JCD, the 1994 police artist facial composite of "River Guy" shows him as having a light beard. It was commonly believed by those close to the case that River Guy and John Clinton Doe were the same person. However, this hypothesis was challenged by the later forensic estimations based on body decomposition rates that JCD may have died later than originally determined, as late as May, 1995. As such this new range of the possible time of death (as late as the spring of 1995) did not correspond as closely with the date of "River Guy" sightings.
The pendant In 2010, the distinctive goat pendant was traced by the Rock County Sheriff's detective working the case to a Janesville area craftsman. Active in the local metal scene, the man claimed to have made the pendant as well as sold or given similar items to a dozen people. However, none of these people could be traced back as John Clinton Doe.
Isotopic analysis Isotopic analysis of the bones conducted in 2014 with the help of
Smithsonian Institution scientists showed that the young man was from or had spent a significant amount of time in the Midwestern area, around the Great Lakes, which includes the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan. This, with the provenance of the goat pendant leads investigators to believe that the decedent was not living very far from where he was found.
DNA Genealogy At the request of the local law enforcement, in 2018 the
DNA Doe Project took on the case in collaboration with
NCMEC, Fulgent Genetics, Aerodyne Research Inc., and Full Genomes Corporation and attempted to identify the body by using
autosomal DNA, the web site
GEDmatch and
genetic genealogy to trace relatives. In February 2019, the DNA Doe Project announced they had tentatively identified John Clinton Doe.
Identification On June 14, 2022, at 13:30 PM CST, the Rock County Sheriff's office held a press conference led by Sheriff Troy Knudson, in which the deceased individual was identified as Carl Junior Isaacs Jr. Isaacs lived in
Delavan,
Walworth County prior to his death. He had a criminal history of
burglary,
petty theft, and
destruction of property. In March 1992, Isaacs was sentenced to 5 years in prison for burglary and vandalism of golf carts and other property at the Delbrook Golf Course in Delavan. He was at three different prisons beginning in April 1992. By the fall of 1993, Isaacs was imprisoned at the Oakhill Correctional Institute in
Oregon, Wisconsin. There were periods of time in which he was released to house arrest and to a
halfway house on Odana Road in
Madison. In April 1995, Isaacs was at his mother's home in
Walworth under house arrest. He disappeared from home on April 16, 1995, and was never seen or heard from again. A judge in
Walworth County immediately signed an arrest warrant for Isaacs for
probation violation. The warrant was renewed up through April 2018. The investigation into the manner and circumstances surrounding Isaacs' death was declared to be ongoing. According to Sheriff Knudson, Isaacs had not been reported missing prior to his death. When asked about a photograph of Isaacs displayed at the press conference, Sheriff Knudson said that Isaacs had contact with the
Wisconsin Department of Corrections, where the photo had potentially been taken. ==See also==