LA ST. TAMMANY PARISH JOHN DOE: WM, 65+, found near White Kitchen north of New Orleans, LA - 29 July 2016 *KLEANTHIS KONSTANTINIDIS*

Around 7:00 a.m. on Friday, July 29, 2016 the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office was notified of a body on Highway 90 at Highway 433 near White Kitchen north of New Orleans.

An autopsy conducted by the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office determined the badly decomposed body was that of a male approximately 5’10” tall and age 65 years or older. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head; the manner of death was homicide.

Due to the level of decomposition, the exact age and race were unable to be determined. The only distinguishable mark was a scar on the victim’s chest from a prior open-heart bypass surgery. The victim’s arms were missing, along with one of his legs just below the knee and were never recovered. It is possible the extremities were intentionally cut off to hide tattoos or prominent scars.

Evidence recovered at the scene indicate St. Tammany Parish John Doe or his assailant may have ties to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He could have been homeless or a transient. The initial death investigation was unsuccessful. In 2016 the victim’s DNA was sent to Parabon NanoLabs, which specializes in DNA phenotyping, which determined the deceased was a white male with fair skin, brown or hazel eyes, and dark brown hair. A sketch was developed.

DNA Doe Project Status
Research in progress

St Tammany Parish John Doe | DNA Doe Project

dnadoeproject.org

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

#JohnDoe's body was found on Hwy 90 at Hwy 433 near White Kitchen no of New Orleans in 2016. The DNA Doe Project is looking into his identification!

He had a scar on his chest from bypass surgery. He likely had brown or hazel eyes He likely had a fair complexion with few or no freckles. He likely had black hair

www.crimewatchers.net

*CLICK THE REPORT BUTTON IF YOU'D LIKE THIS CASE MOVED TO THE GENERAL DISCUSSION AREA TO BE OPENED FOR COMMENTING.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

St. Tammany Parish John Doe was a male murdered in 2016.

The badly decomposed body was discovered along Highway 90. His arms and one leg were removed, possibly in efforts to hide distinctive features, such as scars or tattoos. Due to the location of the body, it is suspected the victim or killer had ties to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The victim is speculated to be either a transient or homeless individual.

• He had a scar on his chest from bypass surgery.
• He likely had brown or hazel eyes
• He likely had a fair complexion with few or no freckles.
• He likely had black hair
• Per analysis by the DNA Doe Project, the victim was primarily European, Mediterranean, and West Asian.
  • There were traces of Native American, East Asian, and African heritage

 

[Windstorm]

St Tammany Parish John Doe 2016 was added to Gedmatch by the DNA Doe Project. As of February 22, 2021, he had 463 DNA matches. His highest match was 38.8 cM - this is not a substantial match. He is on the Google Drive spreadsheet at:

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

St Tammany Parish John Doe | DNA Doe Project

dnadoeproject.org

Investigators from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office were able to develop investigative leads that led to the identification of Kleanthis Konstantinidis after the discovery of his severed foot on a Biloxi property owned by the chief suspect in his murder. Investigative genetic genealogy was used to establish the ancestry of this John Doe, but his matches were very distant relatives.

Dismembered foot found in bucket leads to break in 2016 Louisiana cold case

More than five years after a dismembered, decomposing body was found in Louisiana, a chilling discovery of a human foot in Mississippi has led detectives to identify the victim.

wreg.com

Dismembered foot found in bucket leads to break in 2016 Louisiana cold case​

More than five years after a dismembered, decomposing body was found in Louisiana, a chilling discovery of a human foot in Mississippi has led detectives to identify the victim.

On Friday, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith identified the victim in the homicide investigation as a man named Kleanthis Konstantinidis. Back in July of 2016, a passerby found Konstantinidis’ body in the Rigolets, a deepwater strait that connects Lake Pontchartrain to Lake Borgne, which ultimately feeds into the Gulf of Mexico.


Despite the years of work chasing several potential leads, investigators were stymied when it came to learning the identities of the victim and potential killer. Then, investigators got a break thanks to a shocking discovery during a natural death investigation in Mississippi.

In April of 2019, the Biloxi Police Department was investigating the death of a man named Phillip Pointer, who was believed to have died of natural causes. During that investigation, police learned that a human foot had been discovered in a bucket on Pointer’s property.

Although they didn’t know it yet, the discovery of that foot would bring answers that deputies had been seeking for years: DNA from the foot was matched to the body dumped in the Rigolets almost three years before.


Sheriff Smith says the foot sparked new leads in the investigation, including several interviews and a new amount of evidence to comb through. This came with the help of the LSU FACES Lab, Biloxi Police, and the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that uses genealogy to identify unknown deceased persons.

At last, the STPSO was able to find a living relative of the victim who was residing in the northern United States. A DNA sample from the relative compared to the victim confirmed that the body belonged to Konstantinidis.

But a question still remains: Was Phillip Pointer involved? For the moment, detectives are not sure. So far, deputies have deemed the deceased Pointer as the primary suspect in the investigation. However, there is still work to be done to determine when, where, and how Konstantinidis died. Sheriff Smith says his office is working closely with the Biloxi Police Department in the investigation.

 

[Kimster]

That’s incredible. I wonder what the circumstances were when they found the foot? I mean, exactly where it was on the property etc.