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r/TodMotorDoe
Update 6: The Occupation of Tod Motor Doe
Posted by
u/MementoMori29
4 months ago
Update 6: The Occupation of Tod Motor Doe
Let's get right into it.
There's pretty good evidence that...
1) Tod Motor Doe ("TMD") was working as a Truck Driver. At a minimum, he drove routes on the west coast of the United States. It is also likely that he had a valid CDL (Commercial Driver's License).
How do we know this?
Years ago, in a conversation with
u/Sonnyphono and I, the detectives at the Clark County Coroner's Office ("CCCO") informed us that they had tracked down an employer of TMD's. We made contemporaneous notes about two tidbits of information shared with us: That TMD had a "heavy German accent," according to his former employer; and, that he worked, at least at one point, in the "vending business." The detective at the CCCO did not give us any further information on that front.
We sat on that for a while, unsure where to follow that lead.
Things changed with the discovery of TMD's alias (See: Update 5). When we spoke to TRUE JENNER's mother, she informed us that her son had never held any sort of job due to his illness.
As part of due diligence, Sonny and I had spent mind-numbing hours sorting through various government databases searching for criminal, judicial, residency records. With TRUE JENNER sorted out, everything we found out seemed bunk...
Except...
There was a record of two traffic citations for TRUE JENNER in Oregon from Autumn of 2004. So I dug through the ol' Oregon Revised Statutes, noticed something interesting and called up the Oregon county where the infractions happened. I confirmed TRUE JENNER's name/pedigree information with the very nice records clerk and got forwarded, in part, this document:
The Citation from 2004
Both infractions are
specific for
truck drivers.
The Department of Transportation ("DOT") requires "every for-hire carrier and private carrier keep daily records," which are monthly (and randomly) checked. This serves many purposes, including keeping a log of how many miles trucked in a month and figuring out how to assess various taxes, like a fuel tax, associated with trucking.
What this means is that regular drivers aren't issued these tickets. You're not going to get hit with a logbook infraction in your Toyota Corolla. These are specific traffic citations issued for, and regulating, truck drivers in Oregon State.
So, I call up the records clerk again. The clerk confirms that the citations were paid, likely
in-person, a month after they were issued. The total sum of the fines was just under $200. As routine as it gets.
I was also informed that all other records regarding these citations were purged in the normal course of business.
So what does this mean?
Well, TRUE JENNER has no known link to Oregon in the 2000s. And we know TRUE JENNER, suffering from mental illness, has never in his life held a job. And yet, "he" was issued citations in 2004 related commercial trucking activity, which is within the time frame that he was homeless and TMD was still alive.
Drawing reasonable conclusions...
- TMD stole REAL JENNER's identity, got himself a valid driver's license, got himself a valid CDL license.
- TMD was employed as a Truck Driver.
- TMD had been using TRUE JENNER's identity since at least Autumn of 2004, a whole two (2) years before his death.
- It is likely TMD was doing long-haul trucking, at least for a period of time. u/Sonnyphono and I believe that TMD predominantly resided in Nevada. We were able to track down a few PO Boxes and addresses (that we are currently vetting). His presence in Oregon shows a minimum of an 800 mile trip, which would qualify as long-haul trucking (Note: Long-haul trucking is defined by the industry as any trip over 250 miles).
Now a still possible but less resolute assumption or two:
- It is likely TMD was working for a trucking company and did not own his own rig. Owning your own rig is a significant investment, on par with buying a house, and requires significant resources. It's reasonable to assume TMD was working for a trucking company, using their vehicles.
- TMD was possibly transient during this time frame. Long-haul truckers can be gone months at a time. Living on the road, sleeping in their rig, living a largely transient lifestyle. All that clutter found in TMD's motel room: OTC medicine, the dvd's/cd's, stereo, dvd player, even the firearm used in his death -- all of these items would fit right into the lifestyle of a man living on the road, with minimal belongings and with lots of downtown.
Records exist out there -- employment records, DMV records, DOT records, routes and log books, records for his obtaining his CDL license. It's time to find them and try to find people who knew him.
***
On a non-investigatory note, this is the first moment we have that shows any part of TMD's life. In years of snooping around on this case, TMD has never been anything more than an unknown cadaver found in a trashed motel room. We know nothing about the man, his life, his thoughts, his habits. We exist on speculation, which is admittedly, part of the allure of a mystery. But we know very little for certain. Even the suicide/goodbye letter exists as hearsay without a transcript from the CCCO. And while we don't learn anything about these core human questions from the presence of a few traffic citations, they exist to at least show that TMD lived and traveled in this world. He went through sophisticated means of trying to establish a life for himself, even if it was fraudulently and criminally obtained. And we can pin him in a certain place on a certain day, for the first time, outside of the Tod Motor Motel, even if that's the only information we can glean. It's humanizing.
Tod Motor Doe has been identified!
Posted by
u/Sonnyphono
12 days ago
Early in the morning on Thursday September 29th the quest for Tod Motor Doe’s identity reached a conclusion. After over four years of investigating and against our wildest expectations the family of TMD reached out after having seen our work and revealed his name to us. Since then, they have also spoken with the Clark County Coroner’s Office and together they were able to confirm a visual identification. We would like to thank you for the discussions, tips and help. After the DNA test is complete we will return to share even more of this wild journey and tell you about Phase 2 of the investigation. But first, we’re headed to Vegas!
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." - Winston Churchill.
to the forum! I really appreciate you sharing your information with us.
