PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A man found dead in the woods off Old San Mateo Road in 1981 has been identified, but officials need help connecting how he arrived in Putnam County, the sheriff’s office said.
On Oct. 8, 1981, an East Palatka resident discovered the body of a white man lying face down and unclothed. The body was in an advanced stage of decomposition and the face was unrecognizable. Men’s underwear was found about 20 feet from the body. Investigators found no signs of foul play and no tracks leading to or from the scene.
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The medical examiner determined the man was under 60, likely 5-foot-5 to 6-foot tall and weighing between 200 and 250 pounds, and that he died of undetermined, nonviolent causes.
The man could not be identified at the time and no matching missing-person reports were found. He became known as the Palatka John Doe and was buried in a pauper’s grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Palatka.
In Dec. 2023, Sheriff H.D. “Gator” DeLoach, the sheriff’s criminal investigations unit and the District 7 medical examiner’s office oversaw an exhumation, funded in part by the Florida Sheriffs Association Cold Case Advisory Board. Forensic evidence was submitted to Othram, a private laboratory that has worked with the sheriff’s office on other cold cases.
Othram scientists developed a DNA tract and built a comprehensive DNA profile that allowed its forensic genetic genealogy team to generate potential leads. Those leads led detectives to a biological sibling, who provided information that allowed investigators to confirm the man’s biological name as Patrick Nordin.
Nordin was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, in March or April 1942, the sibling said. Because of family hardships, he and his siblings were placed for adoption through St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum for Boys in Erie. The sibling believes Nordin was about 4 when he was adopted; it does not appear any siblings were adopted together. He would have been 39 at the time of his death in 1981.
Investigators do not know the name of Nordin’s adoptive family or the name he used after adoption. That information could help determine whether he lived in Putnam County, recently moved here or was transient when he died.
The sheriff’s office is asking the public to share the information widely in hopes a family member will see it. Anyone with information about Nordin’s adoptive name or about how he may have come to be in Putnam County is asked to contact the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division.
The sheriff’s office thanked Othram and the Cold Case Advisory Board for their work and support in identifying Nordin.