Thread: Mystery of hit-run victim stretches to Honduras

http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/ind...100.xml&coll=9
Thursday, September 07, 2006
MIKE ROCHA
THE SAGINAW NEWS
A fake resident alien card may mean it could take weeks and possibly longer for authorities to locate relatives of a 30-year-old Honduran man killed in Thomas Township when a car struck him as he tried to cross Gratiot early Saturday.

Thomas Township police said Wednesday that the card the man had on him is likely forged.

"The numbers on that card do not match up with the Immigration and Naturalization Service," said Chief Steven D. Kocsis. "Those numbers were not issued to him. It looks like the card was fabricated, so we don't know who we are dealing with. Is this his real name, we don't know.

"For now, he is a John Doe."

Township officers, who are working with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to contact the man's relatives, also are working with embassy officials in Chicago and Washington, D.C..

"We're hoping they can do some tracking and positively identify him," Sgt. Gary Breidinger said.

Another possible avenue to identifying the man is through his fingerprints, Kocsis said.

Authorities found addresses and names with the man's belongings, Breidinger said.

"We didn't see any names that are related to him," he said. "But we first have to get his correct name."

Police officials also said they may have found the name of the man's father, but still don't have a way to reach him, Kocsis said.

"We will make every effort to locate the next of kin," the chief said.

None of the Thomas Township police officers speaks Spanish, which did not help matters when contacting Honduran police.

"And the Honduran police did not speak a lick of English," Breidinger said. "We contacted the Saginaw police to help, and they did a little better, but it was difficult for them to get any information."

Gilberto Guevara, who is a retired program director with Hispanic Ministries, which provides immigration assistance through the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, said authorities should practice patience when trying to find the next of kin.

"This could take awhile," he said. "Things like this do happen. It happened here before."

Guevara recalled how in April 2001 a motorist hit a 33-year-old Guatemalan man who tried to cross Hess at Cumberland in Buena Vista Township.

The man died in the hit-and-run, and authorities tried for weeks to contact the victim's relatives in Central America.

"The problem we had was that the man's wife lived where there was no phone," said Guevara, adding that authorities kept the man's body for six weeks.

Diocesan officials along with the state police and social services collaborated to bury him at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Saginaw and provide a marker, Guevara said.

"We could not ship the body home, so out of respect we buried him," Guevara said. "We don't know if the wife or family ever got the message he died and that he was buried here.

"We don't know if they would ever come to the United States, let alone Saginaw to visit the grave site." v

Mike Rocha is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9687.

This John Doe in the morgue is a regular occurence in some cities and counties as they have illegal ID or carry no ID at all. Many times the only way police get a name is if someone was with them that was legally here. Many times other illegals will run off as they are afraid to speak to the police. The family often does find out as from other illegals who knew them. The deceased's family does not have the money to bury them and leave them here to remain Joe or Jane Does.