Pleasant Prairie Police Set to Announce Update on 1993 Unidentified Body

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. (WRJN) — Investigators are set to reveal new information in a decades-old homicide case in Kenosha County.   Pleasant Prairie Police Chief David Smetana and Kenosha County Medical Examiner Patrice Hall will hold a news conference Tuesday to discuss “significant new information” about the 1993 John Doe case.

It could be related to an unidentified man found near railroad tracks back then. On August 27, 1993, a photographer discovered a badly decomposed male body along the Soo Line railroad tracks in Pleasant Prairie. Those are the tracks closer to the lake.  Despite extensive forensic examinations, the man’s identity remained a mystery.

Previous investigations determined the decedent was likely a Native American male, aged 40 to 60, with possible family ties to several Wisconsin counties, including Keshena, Shawano, Langlade, Calumet, and Waupaca. Genetic genealogy also suggested a connection to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

The news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Pleasant Prairie Village Hall Auditorium.