"Everything else hasn't worked," Trainum said one morning as he flipped through the old files. "Many appear to be stranger-on-stranger crimes, making it more difficult to solve. . . . These databases are our last option."
Gutherie recently recalled the many steps he took to try to identify the man found shot execution-style Feb. 16, 2000, about 50 feet from a path in a park next to the Fort Totten Metro station in Northeast.
One of D.C. detectives' unidentified slaying victims had a half-finished tattoo of a demon on his back.
(D.C. Police Photo)
At first, when police did not recover any identification, Gutherie thought he would get a hit in the FBI fingerprint database, because the shooting suggested that the man was involved in criminal activity. Surely, the victim had a record, Gutherie thought.
When he failed to find a match, Gutherie and his partner, Detective Elbert Griffin, visited a dozen tattoo parlors in the area to see if anyone recognized the victim's distinctive artwork, which included a panther on one arm and a half-finished demon on his back. The artists said the designs were done by an amateur or by someone in prison. Police thought the latter theory highly unlikely because the victim's fingerprints were not found in any criminal database.
Gutherie submitted enhanced photos of the man -- including close-ups of the tattoos -- to www.doenetwork.org, a Web site that helps connect unidentified victims to missing people. He has not received any tangible tips, he said.
Even while holding out hope for forensic testing, Gutherie concedes that he might never track down what has become the most elusive quarry of his 15-year career: a name.
Anyone with information about the unidentified victims can call police at 202-727-5037.
Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.
