Body Of This Marine -- Previously Known Only As "John Doe 155" -- Was Found in ELB (Spring St. Near 605 Fwy) in 1974; LBPD Asks If Anyone Has Info About What Happened

(Mar. 20, 2011) -- This U.S. Marine was found murdered in East Long Beach in 1974...and LBPD is seeking the public's help to provide more information in a strange case.

The body was previously unidentified, termed "John Doe 155"...but LBPD used cold-case DNA evidence to determine that the victim was Oral Stuart, Jr. from Des Moines, Iowa, who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA when he disappeared.

LBPD says in a release that on November 10, 1974, LBPD officers responded to a large condominium complex in the area of Spring St. near the 605 freeway where a man's nude body was found. The victim has remained unidentified for over 37 years...but LBPD has announced a major break in the case, taking it out of their "cold case" files...and hope the community can provide information to help identify a suspect.

[LBPD release text] While compiling the list of unidentified "Doe" cases, detectives discovered the case of "John Doe #155," and as they re-examined the information, they suspected the victim might have been in the military at the time of his death based on his physical description. They contacted the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Cold Case Homicide Unit at Camp Pendleton, California. Police investigators worked with the special agent in charge of investigating U.S. Marines that are considered missing, and provided the physical description of John Doe #155, and details related to the discovery of his body on November 10, 1974.

NCIS identified the case of a U.S. Marine who was listed as a deserter on November 22, 1974, just 12 days after the discovery of John Doe #155. The history statement of the U.S. Marine indicated specific tattoos on his arms, which matched tattoos observed on John Doe #155 during his autopsy.

NCIS identified the U.S. Marine as Oral Stuart, Jr., from Des Moines, Iowa. Stuart’s surviving family members were contacted and confirmed through photographs that John Doe #155 was in fact Oral Stuart Jr., a U.S. Marine, who had been stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, at the time of his disappearance.

With John Doe #155 being officially identified as a U.S. Marine, and statements from surviving family members that indicated Oral Stuart Jr., would not have voluntarily deserted his duties as a Marine, cold case detectives suspected that Victim Stuart’s death involved foul play, and the case was reviewed by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, which reclassified the death as a homicide.

With the victim identified, LBPD detectives are now turning to the public to help provide more answers to this case.

Anyone with information is urged to call Long Beach Police Department Homicide Detectives Bryan McMahon and Mike Dugan at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted via web and text by visiting www.tipsoft.com.