On the 7th of May 1972, the body of a young boy thought to be between 11-14 years old (then thought to be about 20 years old) was found floating in a pond. Who was/is Volusia County John Doe?
On the 7th of May 1972, in Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida, two motorcyclists discovered the “battered and badly decomposed” body of a young male, then thought to be around 20 years old, floating in a pond/stream in a wooded area 7 miles East of Indian Lake Road, near Daytona Beach. The area was three miles north of Highway 92.
Note: Some sources say he was discovered on the land near the pond, but a newspaper from the time states it was the pond, so i followed that.
He had been stabbed at least seven times, and his trousers, described as purple and grey tweed pants, had been pulled down to his ankles; this led investigators to believe he had been the victim of a sexual assault, though this has never been confirmed. He had been dead for an estimate of four days prior to discovery. Investigators from the time believed he was killed somewhere else, and then dumped in the pond after death, as there was no signs of a struggle or any blood (though would there be in a pond/stream?).
His hair was brown and medium-length, his eyes were possibly brown (could not be determined presumably from decomposition); he was around 5’2-5’3 feet tall (though some sources say he could have been 5’8) and weighed 110-120 pounds; he had a benign bone tumor in his right leg (reportedly/apparently common in male children), and fusing in his foot bones from a congenital condition, though both of these conditions wouldn’t have shown any symptoms. His pubic area had possibly been shaved. He had all of his teeth and they were all in good, near-perfect, condition.
He was wearing a maroon/red and white striped, short-sleeved knit shirt and a pair of purple and grey tweed pants. Found near the scene was (though some sources say he was wearing these things; it changes depending on where you look): a blue denim jacket (sleeve length 32), brown dress socks, and one black loafer dress shoe with a chrome/silver buckle on the side (size 8 1/2). In the rear left pocket of his pants was a black leather wallet with flecks of blue and green paint on it containing $6.17.
Found near the body was a Green Schwinn bicycle that had been reported stolen missing from New Smyrna Beach 4 days prior on the 3rd of May 1972, and while they couldn’t link this bicycle to the victim, investigators from 1972 came up with a theory of the boy having been a transient who was using the bicycle to travel North, when he met his killer.
Also found near the death scene were a number of empty beer cans.
In attempts to identify the boy, investigators sent out fingerprint copies to the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with checking “every record”, though they could not identify the body.
The boy was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, in Daytona Beach, Florida. This cemetery is also known as Daytona Memorial Park.
The case was reopened (presumably at some point in 2013), and on the 13th of November 2013, the investigators from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, the Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office and other local agencies exhumed the remains of John Doe with the hopes of making a new facial reconstruction and extracting DNA. From here, it was discovered that he wasn’t in his late teens to early twenties like they had originally thought, and that he wasn’t actually in his early teens, with a new estimate of the boy being between 11-14 years old given. Unfortunately, the DNA example extracted during this was insufficient for profiling.
The University of South Florida performed chemical isotope testing for John Doe as part of their Art of Forensic seminar in 2015. This suggested he had been born in the United States, and an additional clay reconstruction was created. It’s unknown if a usable DNA profile was obtained during this event.
In 2025, Identifiers International announced that they had successfully extracted a DNA sample suitable for profiling. They achieved this by using a new FTIR spectroscopy technique that identified areas in bones where DNA chains were the least damaged.
In 1981, a prison was built on top of (or near) where his body was discovered. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoka\_Correctional\_Institution)
Sources:
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Volusia\_County\_John\_Doe\_(1972)
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-orlando-sentinel-3-month-old-murder/115908833/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40580854/john-doe
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/main.html?id=2128umfl
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/13620
https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1224409/1#poster
https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2020/01/31/volusia-county-john-doe-1972/
https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2013/11/18/body\_exhumed\_in\_unso
https://eu.news-journalonline.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2013/11/18/john-doe-exhumed/845728007/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoka\_Correctional\_Institution
https://www.youtube.com/live/SKaqpfxzhGU?si=3GQ8mdIq42Oak0XN
I couldn’t access the pages of the Volusia County Police Force and the other pages of authority linked on The Doe Network because i’m in Europe.
Posted Jul 6, 2026, 1:24 PM UTC