Unidentified Person

Unidentified person — Birmingham (1988-10-31)

An open NamUs record says skeletal remains were discovered beside a roadway in a wooded dumping area within Birmingham’s North Smithfield community. The supplied official extract omits key identifying and recovery details, while inaccessible news links suggest the record’s current status requires confirmation.

Incident date: October 31, 1988
Location: Birmingham, Jefferson County
Independent sources: 4

The record

Skeletal remains were found in a wooded section of Birmingham’s residential North Smithfield community, according to an open U.S. Department of Justice NamUs record. A citizen looking for aluminum cans discovered the remains beside a roadway. Trees, brush and debris concealed them from view from the road 1.

NamUs describes the site as a trash and rubbish dumping ground despite its location within a residential community. The supplied record does not publish the person’s sex, ethnicity, recovery date, precise location or investigating agency 1.

The case is listed as open and unresolved under NamUs number UP15867 1.

A December 2025 WBRC report concerns two other sets of unidentified remains in Jefferson County. It does not mention UP15867 or provide an update about this case 2. The two remaining supplied links could not be retrieved, so their apparent reports of a later identification cannot be evaluated from the supplied documents 34. Accordingly, the current status of UP15867 should be checked directly with NamUs before publication.

Timeline

October 31, 1988Unknown
Case date supplied by the editor; it is not confirmed in the displayed source documents.
Date not publishedConfirmed
A citizen searching for aluminum cans found skeletal remains in a wooded roadside area of the North Smithfield community.
Status in supplied NamUs recordConfirmed
NamUs UP15867 was listed as open and unresolved.
December 17, 2025Reported
WBRC reported developments in two separate Jefferson County unidentified-remains cases but did not mention UP15867.

Documented claims

Skeletal remains were found by a citizen looking for aluminum cans beside a roadway in Birmingham’s residential North Smithfield community.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Single-source claim.
The recovery area was wooded and used as a dumping ground for trash and rubbish, and heavy growth and debris kept the remains from being visible from the roadway.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Single-source claim.
NamUs case UP15867 is listed as open and unresolved.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Single-source claim.
The supplied NamUs record does not publish the unidentified person’s sex, ethnicity, recovery date, precise location or primary investigating agency.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Single-source claim.
WBRC reported in December 2025 that relatives had been located in connection with two other unidentified-remains cases in Jefferson County; the report does not mention NamUs UP15867.
Reported
Source: WBRC · Single-source claim.
The supplied WVTM 13 and CBS 42 documents could not be retrieved, so their apparent reports concerning identification of remains cannot be evaluated from the provided material.
Unknown
Source: WVTM 13 · Corroborated by 1 additional source: https://www.cbs42.com/news/crime/birmingham-mans-remains-identified-38-years-after-he-disappeared/

Sources

NamUs official record UP15867 — U.S. Department of Justice NamUsOpen
Jefferson County coroner says both families have been reached in cases of unidentified remains — WBRCOpen
Birmingham remains missing man identified DNA — WVTM 13Open
Birmingham man’s remains identified 38 years after he disappeared — CBS 42Open