SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The San Diego County Sheriff's Cold Case Unit is looking for help to identify a murder victim, found dead in a remote part of Borrego Springs nearly 39 years ago.
Detectives hope that by releasing digitally enhancing tattoos from the unknown dead man that someone may come forward to identify him.
A body in Borrego Springs - October 26, 1985
On the afternoon of Saturday, October 26, 1985, the body of a dead man was found down a steep embankment along State Highway 22, near mile marker 28 in Borrego Springs.
The man was wearing blue jeans, a light pullover top with black combat boots. He had no identification on him and his body was already in an advanced stage of decomposition.
“There just wasn’t a lot of identification left," said Det. Sean Snow with the San Diego Sheriff’s Homicide Unit. “There had been some animal activity and we weren’t able to obtain fingerprints and back in those days, DNA wasn’t yet a thing.”
Having found the body to have sustained trauma, the Medical Examiner ruled the man's death as a homicide.
But little was known about the man and his identity.
That would remain the case for decades until San Diego County Cold Case detectives decided to reexamine the case.
“We don’t give up,” Det. Snow said. “The families deserve more, and the victims deserve everything we can give them.”
Detectives look for clues or identifying marks on the man's body that may help.
Tattoos released for first time
They zeroed in on several tattoos that they man had, not an easy task considering the state that the body was found in.
After countless hours enhancing photos of the tattoos, cold case detectives are now releasing them for the first time.
Detectives say the most distinctive is a tattoo found on the man's left forearm of a wolf howling at a red moon with the word, "life" or "wife" tattooed next to it.
“I’m hoping somebody recognizes these tattoos and it rings a bell with someone,” Det. Snow said.
The unknown man also had tattoos on his right arm.
One of which, on the upper arm, was the name, "Linda." The man's forearm had the word, "Gypsy" followed by an illegible other word.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330/after hours at (858) 565-5200. You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
WATCH RELATED: Victim in 1981 cold-case murder identified thanks to DNA match (Dec. 12, 2023)