This page has been translated from sources not in English and may contain inaccuracies or errors.
Lop Nur John Doe was a man whose mummified remains were discovered in Lop Nur in the Kumu Kuduk desert. During his discovery, he was misidentified as missing biochemist Jiamu Peng until DNA tests confirmed that the remains did not belong to Peng. No match to his DNA has ever been found.
Case[]
On April 11th, 2005, the mummified body of a man was discovered face-down in the dry Lop Nor riverbed in the Kumu Kuduk desert and mostly covered by sand. The decedent was quickly assumed to be missing biochemist Jiamu Peng, who had gone missing under mysterious circumstances in the area in 1980. This assumption was only further bolstered after the body was transported to Dunhuang and paraded in the media as being Peng. The decedent was noted to have been quite similar to Peng in physical attributes and his postmortem interval was estimated to have been around 20 years. Though, DNA tests conducted later in the month proved that the body did not belong to Peng, but instead a man whose DNA was not in the records of the Chinese police.
Another man would be discovered in the area in 2007, though this body too would be proven to not belong to Peng. It is unknown if the man's case is connected to that of the decedent other than both of them initially being believed to have been Peng. It is stated that four other bodies were found between 2005 and 2007 that were also believed to have belonged to the biochemist, but details about these individuals are currently not publicly available.
Characteristics[]
- All of his teeth were missing except for his third canine tooth on his lower left jaw.
- Slender build.
- His feet are stated to have been 22.5 centimeters long, making him a size 41-42 in Chinese shoe measurements.
- Short dark hair with yellow hues.
- May have possibly had a height of 5'2 feet during life, though it has been stated that leaving a body in the desert for 20 years would cause it to shrink.
Exclusions[]
- Jiamu Peng
Sources[]
- Sina (Mandarin)