He is a human being that deserves the dignity of his name back.”
That’s what Joe Mullins, a forensic imaging specialist with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said in a story by journalist JW August about a John Doe.
The story in Times of San Diego detailed law enforcement’s use of today’s technology to put a face and a name to otherwise unidentified victims in unsolved cases.
The human being washed ashore in Imperial Beach in 1995, according to the story.
“The victim was likely a 15- to 30-year-old Hispanic male, 5’3” tall with black hair and a pierced left ear.”
There was a time when The Star-News covered Imperial Beach, but a search through archives didn’t yield any copy about the incident.
The human being was 15 to 30 years old.
If he were alive today he might be a 43-year-old father-to-be. Or a 58-year-old dad anticipating the arrival of his youngest from college for the holidays.
He might have found the life he was looking for had he been a migrant coming to the U.S. in search of a new beginning. He might have been able to provide for a family on one or both sides of the border.
The human being had a name before he was found dead in 1995.
Like the people most of us will be lucky enough to be gathering with over the coming holidays, he meant something to some people.
He mattered.
“He is a human being that deserves the dignity of his name back.”
