Who was King County John Doe (1984) a.k.a. “Bus Stop Man”?

A composite of John Doe

Case

On May 12th, 1984, an unnamed person was horrified to discover a man’s body on the sidewalk near a bus stop at 7020 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, Washington, United States. He had a .22-caliber revolver with him and a gunshot wound to his head, rendering his face unrecognizable. Investigators believe he sadly ended his own life.

He was found with a blue canvas bag containing three pencils and a book on mathematics, indicating that he may have been a student. The bag also contained a Bible, clothes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, trading stamps, and eyeglasses, but no identification.

The trading stamps were not produced by local stores, indicating that the man did not live in Seattle. Investigators contacted the book and pencils’ manufacturers in search of the man’s identity, but found nothing.

Though his dental records and fingerprints remain available, his DNA is not. Tragically, he remains unidentified to this day, earning him the nickname “Bus Stop Man” or “King County John Doe”.

Personal Commentary

This case is all but forgotten. Upon looking up the case, most of the search results were about another then-unidentified person also found in 1984.

Adding to the tragedy of his case, there is little public information on it. I could not find any news articles about it from the year it happened or later.

Whoever this man is, I hope he one day gets his name back and that his loved ones can receive some answers on what happened to him. May he rest in peace.

Description

John Doe was a black male with dark brown eyes and hair, estimated to be between ages eighteen and thirty years old. He stood at 6 feet tall and weighed 138 pounds. He had a mustache and a goatee, with a scar on his right elbow and right calf.

He was wearing a light gray nylon jacket with red trim and two buttons on the lapel reading “Warning; Mad Lover” on one, and “Who Says You Can’t Have Everything? Here I am” on the other. He also wore a tan pullover short-sleeved shirt with two breast pockets, a white T-shirt, Vallini blue jeans in size 29, and Pro Wing tennis shoes with velcro closure.

If you have any information that might lead to identifying this person, please contact the Seattle Police Department at (206) 625–5011.

Sources

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/main.html?id=372umwa

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/10790

https://uncovered.com/cases/1984-king-county-john-doe